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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
3 1833 01115 5683
Los Angeles
From the Mountains to the Sea
JOHN STEVEN McGROARTY
WITH SELECTED BIOGRAPHY OF ACTORS AND WITNESSES
OF THE PERIOD OF GROWTH AND ACHIEVEMENT
ILLUSTRATED
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1921
COPYRIGHT, 1921,
BY
AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1131982
PREFACE
It seems that, as a general custom, centuries old, a book
must have what is known as a "Preface." In former times,
when a book was nothing if not ponderous, the Preface was
a thing to daunt the reader at the very start; it was so big
and so heavy, and it had such a serious countenance.
For my part, I could never quite see the use of a Preface
at all. If a man is to tell a story — and every book, especially
a narrative of history, is a story — why not begin at once with
it, without any "hems" or "haws," as the saying is?
Still, there are times and instances when a Preface may
well serve a good purpose; and it may be that this story of
the "Wonder City of Los Angeles is a case in point. Anyway,
the publishers, eager and anxious that nothing should be left
undone, have a serious conviction that there should be a
Preface to this book, no matter what argument there might
be as to any other.
So, we must have a Preface to the Book of the Wonder City.
But it will be a short Preface; it will be brief and with as little
waste of words and time as possible, because no matter into
whose hands whatever this book falls, he will be keen to get
at it, and with as few by-paths as possible to travel.
And what I have to say, therefore, prefatory to the book,
is that it is the true story of a great City that was founded
"by order of the King," in the old days when the Western
World was new. It is the story of a City that, for a century
of time after its birth, showed few signs of promise, but which
has now come to be the Greatest City of Western America and
the metropolis of California— the "Land o' Heart's Desire."
The history of any city that can be named almost, is a
story of its fortune that came from location or other accident
to make it great. But Los Angeles is a City that was made
great by the people, who. one day found it sleeping in the
iv PREFACE
sun, oblivious to its destiny. They were, for the most part,
people who came from far regions of America, seeking a more
agreeable climate than that to which they had been accus-
tomed. This is the truth of the matter.
They were a vigorous and an ambitious people, notwith-
standing their desire for friendlier skies and more sunshine.
And they took hold of Los Angeles, and they put life into it.
All that they did constitutes one of the most thrilling chron-
icles in human history. And the record of it is set forth in the
pages of this book.
This, I would think, is enough to say by way of a Preface.
The rest that is to be told awaits you here, at the turn of
you hand. It is a good book, because it tells a good story
that Time composed. And Time is the best author of books.
John S. McGkoaety.
Los Angeles, California, Dec. 15, 1920.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
As It Was in the Beginning 1
CHAPTER II
The Mother of Los Angeles 12
CHAPTER III
The Founding of the Pueblo 24
CHAPTER IV
The First Uncertain Steps 33
CHAPTER V
Life in Old Los Angeles 46
CHAPTER VI
Old Timers and Old Times 62
CHAPTER VII
Kaleidoscope of the Years 93
CHAPTER VIII
From the Spaniard to the American 146
CHAPTER IX
When Uncle Sam Stepped In 159
v
vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER X
Pioneers of Trade and Commerce 183
CHAPTER XI
The Port o' Ships 203
CHAPTER XII
The Aqueduct 226
CHAPTER XIII
The Glory of the Schools 238
CHAPTER XIV
The Medicine Men 265
CHAPTER XV
Religion and the Churches 293
CHAPTER XVI
The Laws and the Courts 323
CHAPTER XVII
The City 's Breathing Spots 367
CHAPTER XVIII
Music and Art 376
CHAPTER XIX
A Great Organization 388
CHAPTER XX
Modern Los Angeles 402
INDEX
Abila, Antonio Ignacio, I, 74
Abila, Enrique, I, 165, 189
Abila, Juan, I, 189
Ada Hancock, great loss of life by ex-
plosion of (1863), I, 106
Adair, Joseph A., II, 333
Adams, Charles S., I, 309
Adcock, Robert J., II, 388
Agricultural and horticultural prog-
ress: history of, I, 70, 71; in the
early 50 's, 78
Agricultural Park, I, 87
Agriculture aud horticulture: early
fruit growers, I, 189; grape and
orange cultivation in the early 50 's
190 .
Aguirre, Martin C, III, 737
Alcalde: I, 34; created and duties de-
fined, by the Laws of the Indies,
329; chief judicial officer. 337, 330;
functions defined by Spanish Cortes
(1812), 331-33-34
Alemany, Jose Sadoc, second Catholic
bishop of California, sketch of, I,
304
Alexander and Banning, I, 184
Alexander and Melius, I, 184
Alexander, Henrv N., I, 365
Alfred, Charles j., II, 269
Allen, Charles H., I, 262
Allen, Gabriel, I, 365
Allen, John C, III, 698
Alvarado, Francisco Maria, I, 301
Alvarado, Juan Bautista, I, 152
Amat, Tadeo (Thaddeus), Bishop of
Monterey, I, 305, 318
American-Hawaiian Steamship Com-
pany, I, 212
Amestov, Domingo, II, 342
Amestoy, John B., II, 343
Amestov, Michael F., II, 343
Amestoy, Peter D, II, 343
Anderson, James A., II, 325
Anderson, William H., II, 326
Andrews, A. V., Ill, 839
Andrews, Lewis W., Ill, 825
Andrews, Willedd, II, 414
Angel, Henry, I, 314
Angell, Henry J., Ill, 914
Antonio, Juan, In. Man chief I 72
Apollo Club, I, 379
Arcadia Block, I, 101, 193
Arguello, Jose, I, 147
Arnold, Balph, III, 752
Atherton, Isaac W., I, 312, 320
Austin, John C, III, 747
Averill, Kathleen A., Ill, 601
Avery, Moses N., Ill, 712
Babeock, Mrs. George, II, 280
Bachnian & Company, I, 187
Bacon, Francis E., II, 106
"Bacon Tract" (Oneonta Park), I, 89
Bagby, E. H, III, 500
Bain, Ferdinand R,, II, 92
Baker, Danford M., II, 330
Baker, Fred L., II, 28
Baker, Milo A., II, 29
Baker, Milo S., II, 26
Baker Block, I, 83, 118
Balch, A. C, II, 67
Baldwin, Anita M., II, 140
Baldwin, Elias J. (Luckv), I, 91 116
117; II, 139
Balfour, Constance, HI, 746
Ball. William F., II, 332
Ballard, Russell H., Ill, 505
Bancroft, Hubert H., I, 58
Bandini, Juan, I, 42; sketch of, 67, 151
Bank of California, San Francisco,
failure of, I, 91, 117
Banks, Llewellyn A., HI, 669
Banks: In 1875, I, 80; first opened in
1868, 108
Banning, Anne, II, 15
Banning, Hancock, II, 14
Banning, Phineas, 1, 101, 102, 106 190:
II, 13
Banning, William L., I, 365
Barham, Guy B., Ill, 692
Barker, Charles II., Ill, 657
Barker, Lillian G., Ill, 725
Barker, Obadiah T., III. 653
Barker, O. J., Ill, 658
Barker, William A., III. 657
Barker Brothers, III, 655
Barnard Brothers, I, 113
Barneson, Lionel T., II, 162
Barrett, Elliott H., II, 291
Barriseale, Bessie, HI, 817
Barrows, H. D.: His reminiscences of
the '50s, I, 74, 272
Barry, Patrick H., II, 155
Bartlett, Albert. G., Ill, 451
Bartlett, Alfred L., n, 423
Bartlett, Oswald, III, 647
Barton, James B., I, 365
Baruch, Herman, II, 226
Bashor, Ernest G., Ill, 725
Bashor, Horace A., Ill, 725
Bauchet, Louis, I, 37
Baum, L. Frank, III, 553
Baum, Maud G., Ill, 554
Beall, B., I, 72
Bean, J. H., death of, I, 72
Bear Flag, hoisted at Sonoma (1846),
I, 155
Beaudry, Prudent, I, 187
Beaudry's Block, I, 187
Beckett, Wesley W., in, 854
Beebe, George, III, 526
Behn, John I, 183
Behrendt, Sam, II, 421
Behymer, Lynden E. (Bee): Great
musical figure of Los Angeles, I,
381; sketch of, 382; II, 359
Belgian Hare craze, I, 137
Bell, Alexander, I, 1S3, 191
Bell, Charles B., II, 412
Bell, Horace, I, 345
Bell, Mary K., Ill, 519
Bella Union, I, 82
Bench and Bar: Courts of Southern
California district (early 50 's), I,
77; the old courthouse, 85; Spanish
projection of the Roman law over
America, 323; Spanish laws fixing
high grade of colonial officials, 327;
chain of Spanish and Mexican laws
replaced by common law of England
(1850), 328; military officers and
governors as judges, 330; courts at
time of American occupation, 333;
courts under Mexican Republic, 334-
38; litigation over land grants, 338;
great lawyers identified with Cali-
fornia land-grant cases, 342; early
days of (in California statehood),
343; lawyers of 1875, 344; interest-
ing cases, 346-357; lawyers of the
40 's and 50 's, 361; lawyers arriving
in the '50s and '60s, 362; judges and
court officers since 1850, 364-66
Benjamin, Judah P., I, 342
Bennett, James S., Ill, 509
Benton, city of (?), I, 202
Benton, Frank W., Ill, 735
Benton, F. Weber, in, 735
Beteller, Dionision, I, 365
Bicknell, John D., I, 245
Bicksler, W. Scott, II, 286
Bigler, John, I, 181
Bilic-ke, Albert C, n, 104
Billings, F., I, 362
Binklev, Robah J., II, 296
Birdsail, Elias, I, 311; death of, 319
Bishop, Frank C, in, 638
Bissell, E. C, I, 312
Bixby, Jotham W„ III, 624
Bixbv, Lewellyn, II. 192
Black, Jeremiah S., I, 342, 366
Blackstone, Nathaniel B., Ill, 706
Blair, Cassius D., II, 245
Blake George R,, I, 72
Blakeslee, Raymond I., II, 295
Bland, Adam, I, 318
Blankenhorn, David, II, 367
Bledsoe, Benjamin F., Ill, 590
Blodget, Lewis W., II, 85
Blodget, Rush M., II, 85
Blodget, Spencer L. II, 84
Blodget & Blodget, II, 85
Bluett, Alice, n, 31
Bluett, William C, II, 30
Board of Education, changes in selec-
tion of members, 1853-1903, I, 245
Board of Health, created (1873), I, 290
Board of Land Commissioners work
in Los Angeles (1855), I, 99
Board of Public Works takes charge
of aqueduct project, I, 233
Board of Trade organized (1873), I,
113
Board of Water Commissioners, I, 230
Boardman, William E., I, 310, 311, 319
Bonynge, W. A., II, 96
Book, Charles K., HI, 673
Book, Ida L,, Ill, 673
Bordwell, Walter, III, 594
Bouchet, Louis, I, 70
Bovard, M. M., I, 320
Bowen, John M., Ill, 855
Bowen, William M., Ill, 496
Bowman, Joaquin, I, 37, 65
Boyle, Robert L., Ill, 482
Brainerd, E. R., I, 373
Branciforte (pueblo) founded, I, 11
Brent, J. Lancaster, I, 242, 362, 364
Bresee, Mrs. Phineas W., Ill, 573
Bridge, Norman, H, 425
Brier, J. W., I, 307, 319
Brigham, Harrv B., in, 725
Brigham, W. Curtis, III, 725
Brinckerhoff, John, I, 281
Broadwav, I, 134
Broadwefl, Elizabeth, III, 712
Broadwell, Harold B., Ill, 711
Brooks, Helen A., Ill, 440
Brown, Eltinge T., UI, 556
Brown, Harrington, II, 357
Brown, Herbert C, III, 527
Brown, Luther G., Ill, 476
INDEX
Brown, Seth K., Ill, 469
Brown, Thomas B., Ill, 555
Brown, Walter E., Ill, 868
Brunson, Anson, I, 349
Brunswig, Lueien N., Ill, 704
Brunton, 'Robert, III, 7S0
Brush Electric Lighting Company, I,
120
Bryson, John, I, 122
Buelna, Maria del Pilar, I, 337
Buffum, Asa M., II, 56
Buffum, Rebecca, II, 56
Buffum, William M., II, 54
Bull, Ingall W., II, 285
Bulla, Robert N., Ill, 512
Bullock, Georgia P., Ill, 489
Bullock, John G., Ill, 911
Bundy, Charles L., II, 115
Bureau of Aqueduct Power, I, 235
Burke, Carleton F., II, 206
Burke, Samuel E., II, 136
Burke, Wellington C, II, 132
Burke, William R., II, 205
Burnell, Charles S., II, 287
Burnett, Peter H., I, 180
Burnham, Rufus W., Ill, 521
Burns, James F., I, 365
Burr, Ebenezer, III, 489
Burrill, George T., I, 360, 364
Burton, G. W., I, 320
Burton, H. S., sketch of, I, 164
Bushnell, John B., II, 126
Bustamente, Francisco, I, 241
Butler, John L., Ill, 527
Butron, Manuel, I, 339
Butte, William P., II, 69
Cable, Bertha L., Ill, 803
Cabrillo, Carlos Antonio, I, 152
Cabrillo, Jose Antonio, I, 150, 151
Cabrillo, Juan Rodriguez: His log
book, 1542, I, 4; death of, 8; real
discoverers of California, 38, 204
Cain, S. F., in, 591
California: division of, attempted
(1881), I, 120; conflict of author-
ity between General Kearny and
Commodore Stockton, 177; conflict
of authority between Fremont and
Kearny, 178; conflict of authority
between Fremont and Governor
Mason, 180; harbors made famous
by Richard Henry Dana's "Two
Years before the Mast," 205; first
doctor in, 266; grand and light
opera in, 379
California Family Medical Instructor,
I, 282
California Fruit Growers Exchange,
III, 463
California horses of the early days, I,
48
California Mission of Latter Day
Saints, II, 345
California Pacific Steamship Company,
I, 212
Cambon, Benitos, I, 14
Camero, Manuel, I, 30
Camp Grounds (for automobilists), I,
373
Campbell, Patrick C, III, 729
Campbell, S. R., sketch of, I, 363
Campbell, Thompson, I, 366
Campbell, Thornton P., I, 363
Campbell, Walter M.,"II, 424
Canfield, Charles A., in, 880.
Cannell, S. Bartley, III, 935
Canning Industry, I, 396
Cantwell, John j., II, 208
Carduno, Emanuel Posada y, Arch-
bishop of the Metropolitan Mexican
Church, I, 298
Cardwell, H. C, I, 71, 78, 317
Carey, John G., II, 299
Carhart, Henry S., Ill, 858
Carmel Mission, I, 383
Carpenter, Lemuel, I, 65
Carrier pigeon service, I, 112
Carrillo, Jose Antonio, I, 38, 361
Carrillo, Jose Maria: runs lively Con-
gressional campaign, I, 41; success-
ful campaign and revolution, 42
Carrillo, Pedro C, I, 353, 365
Carson, Moses, I, 65
Carter, Marshall L., II, 178
Carter, Mathew, I, 311
Case, Fred H., Ill, 578
Casper, Christian J., Ill, 608
Cass, Bruce H., II, 237
Castles, Alfred G. R., II, 275
Cates, Alton M., ni, 492
Cates, Horace G., Ill, 492
Cathedral of Santa Vibiana, I, 117
Cawston, Edwin, I, 123
Cawston Ostrich Farm, I, 123
Central Baptist Church, I, 312
Central Ice house established, I, 108
Central Pacific Railroad completed
(1869), I, 109
Central Presbyterian Church, I, 310,
311
Central Southern Pacific (Arcade)
Station, I, 129
Cerro Gordo lead and silver mines,
I, 109
Ceruti, E. Burton, II, 265
Chamber of Commerce: Genesis of
(18S8), I, 398; great public works
initiated and fostered by, 400; its
four homes, I, 401
Chamberlain, E. Kirby, I, 1S1
INDEX
Chance, Frank, III, 766
Chandler, Charles U, III, 580
Chandler, Harry, IH, 844
Chandler, Louis C, HI, 725
Chapman, A. B., I, 89, 345, 365
Chapman, John S., I, 356, 358
Chapman, Joseph, I, 37; first Los An-
geles American, 152
Chard. William, I, 65
Chase, Lucius K., II, 262
Chase, Mildred, II, 328
Chavez, Estanislao V., n, 405
Chaves, Julian, I, 64, 165, 288
Cheney, William A., Ill, 646
Chesebro, Eay L., Ill, 485
Chichester, W. J., I, 320
Chico, Mariano, worst governor of
California, I, 151
Childs, Emeline H., II, 19
Childs, Ozro W., I, 71, 78; secures
valuable citv propertv, 101; U, 19
Christie, Alfred E., in, 460
Christie, Charles H., Ill, 460
Christie Brothers, III, 460
Christie Film Company, II, 460
Churches: First Protestant chapel
(1852), I, 96; Episcopalians estab-
lished in Los Angeles (1865), 107;
Cathedral of Santa Vibiana opened
(April 9, 1876), 117; the Chapel and
old Plaza Church (1784-1815), 293;
cornerstone laid of St. Vibiana Ca-
thedral, Los Angeles (1869), 305; first
Protestant service held in Los An-
geles (1850), 307; First Protestant
Society of Los Angeles, 308; Pres-
byterian, 310; Protestant Episcopal
and Congregational, 311; Baptist,
314; Christian (Disciples of Christ)
and Unitarian, 315; Congregation of
B'nai B'rith, 316; early Protestant
ministers, 318.
Cienega ranch, famous duck grounds,
I, 90
"Cinema art" (motion picture indus-
try), I, 386
Citrus industry, I, 122
City Hall commenced, I, 132
City School Library, I, 259
City of Paris (dry goods store), I, 82
Civic center planned, I, 142
Civil War: First year's effect on
Los Angeles, I, 104
Clampitt, Edward A., Ill, 716
Clampitt, Margaret M. W., Ill, 717
Clark, A. J., Ill, 914
Clark, Eli P., I, 138; II, 189
Clark, W. A., I, 134
Clark, W. A. Jr., I, 381
Clarke, Robert M., II, 67
Clayton vineyard, I, 190
Clifford, John J., II, 149
Cline, John C, II, 38
Coate, Henry B., II, 234
Cochran, George I., II, 59
Code, William H., II, 36
Code of Spanish Laws, I, 325
Coffev, Titian J., I, 342
Coffin, John E., II, 240
Cohen, Gertrude, III, 853
Cohn, Kaspare, III, 777
Coit, Edward W., HI, 536
Coit, Henry A., in, 537
Cole, Cornelius, III, 718
Cole, Elmer E., in, 699
Cole, Mrs. Girali D., I, 379
Cole, John D., II, 428
Collier, Frank C, II, 96
Collings, Lewis D., U, 364
Colony from Mexico City (1834), I,
360
Colton, Walter, I, 54
Commerce and trade: Early American
traders to Los Angeles (1826-1831),
I, 63; Los Angeles center of early
New Mexican trade, 64; shipment of
oranges and lemons by the all-water
route, 219; cotton trade with Japan,
221; imports from the orient and
Mexico, 222
Commercial Bank, I, 116
Comstock mines, effect on Los An-
geles, I, 116
Conaty, Francis J., II, 157
Conatv, Thomas J., n, 156
Condon, Mabel, HI, 758
Congregational churches, I, 311
Conklin, Leon E., HI, 727
Conlee, Monroe H., m, 545
Conrad, Albert B., II, 201
Conroy, Charles C, II, 223
Constantian, Samuel M., Ill, 865
Conwav, J. E., I, 360
Cook, Philip S., I, 163
Coonev, Wright M., Ill, 775
Cooper, Milton G., H, 219
Coplen, John D., HI, 764
Copp, Andrew J., Jr., HI, 593
Coronado, Francisco Vasquez, I, 7
Coronel, Antonio Franco, I, 95, 360,
365
Coronel, Ignacio, I, 241, 360; sketch
of, I, 361
Coronel, Manuel, I, 360
Coronel, Eosa, I, 73
Coronel, Soledad, I, 241
Coronel, Ygnacio, I, 165
Costa, Guillermo, I, 151
Cota, Antonio, I, 183
Cota, Francisco, I, 160
Cota, Leonardo, I, 189
Coulter, B. F., I, 315
INDEX
County clerks, I, 364-66
County courthouse commenced, I, 132
Countv hospital, I, 289
County judges, I, 364-66
Court of First Instance (Mexican sys-
tem), I, 33,1
Court of Second Instance (Mexican
system), I, 335
Court of Third Instance (Mexican
svstem), I, 335
Couts, Cave J., I, 67; III, 894
Couts, William B., Ill, 896
Cowan, H. R., Ill, 847
Cox, S. Bolivar, I, 72
Coyne, D. Joseph, III, 470
Covne, John P., II, 295
Crabb, Henry A., I, 100
Craig, Mrs. Nancy T., Ill, 837
Craig, William T., Ill, 445
Crane, George C, III, 826
Cravens, John S., II, 128
Creciat Family, III, 563
Creeiat, Louisa A., Ill, 563
Crisler, Lewis A., Sr., Ill, 545
Criswell, Ralph L., Ill, 735
Crittenden, John J., I, 342
Cross, Henson H., Ill, 687
Cross, Kearnie, III, 686
Crump, Guy R., Ill, 514
Cullen. Charles B., I, 360
Cullen, Charles R., sketch of, I, 275
Culloden, Henry A., II, 430
Cumnock School, III, 440
Cunningham, Frank L., Ill, 725
Cunningham, F. M., I, 310
Curtis, William D., Ill, 660
Gushing, Caleb, I, 342
Gushing, Charles P., I, 405
Daggett, Frank S., Ill, 820
Daggett, Lela A., Ill, 821
Daley, J. A., Ill, 864
Dalton, Henry, I, 202
Daly, Patrick, II, 115
Damon, William H., Ill, 579
Dana, Richard H., I, 49
Dana, Viola, III, 860
Danziger, Mrs. J. M., Ill, 883
Daum, William H., Ill, 642
Davis, Charles C, I, 245
Davis, Ferman E., Ill, 561
Davis, John, I, 37
Davis, LeCompte, II, 49
Davis, Thomas, III, 440
Davis, T. N., I, 310
Dead Man's Island, I, 209
De Celis, Eulogio, I, 74
De Echeandia, Jose Maria, I, 40
De Garza, Lazaro, Bishop of Sonora
(1840), I, 296
Dehail, Ildevert I., II, 351
De la Guerra, Pablo, I, 77, 364; sketch
of, 365, 366
De Laguna, Frederica, II, 198
Del Valle, Ignacio, I, 60, 66, 189, 360,
365
Del Valle, Reginaldo F., Ill, 745
Doming, Wilford E., I, 260
Don. Richard S., I, 277; sketch of,
279, 281
De Neve, Felipe: Founder of Los
Angeles, I, 24, 27; sketch of, 25;
death of, 26, 75, 330, 404
Dennen, Jeanne W., Ill, 454
De Ponti, Ernestine, III, 857
De Portola, Don Gaspar, California's
first governor, I, 13, 25, 265
De Roulet, Marie Louise, II, 290
Desmond, C. C, I, 350
Desmond, Daniel, I, 350
Desmond, Joe, I, 350
De Tononi Giaeomo, II, 331
De Tononi, Isabel R,, II, 331
Dickinson, William R„ III, 712
Dickson, Edward A., in, 623
Diego, Francisco Garcia, named bishop
of diocese of California bv Gregorv
XVI (1840), I, 300; arrives at Sail
Diego (December, 1841), and takes
charge of diocese, 301; deatli of,
303
Dillon & Keneally, I, 87
Dimmick, Kimball H., 362, 364, 365
Diocese of California, as created by
Pope Gregory XVI in 1840, sepa-
rated from the diocese of Sonora, I,
295-300
District Judges, I, 364-66
Dockweiler, Isidore B., II, 29
Doheny, Edward L., I, 135, II, 10
Doheny, Edward L., Jr., II, 12
Doherty, Frank P., Ill, 494
Domestic Science introduced into pub-
lic schools (1889), I, 248
Dominican Sisters, II, 416
Domingo, Juan, I, 70, 183, 184
Dominguez, Don M., III. 699
Dominguez, Juan Jose, I, 148
Dominguez, Xasario, I, 189
Donahoe, George, II, 205
Donavan, James G., II, 316
Dorn, Fred R., Ill, 874
Dorsey, H. P., I, 71
Dorsey, P. W., I, 314
Dorsey, Susan M., Ill, 621
Double, Edward, III, 76S
Downey, John G., I, 86, 89, 102, 108,
111, 281, 356
Drake, Charles R., Ill, 786
Drake, James C, II, 12S
Drown, Ezra, I, 362. .165
Drum Camp: established at Wilming-
ton (1861), I, 104; abandonment of,
108
Drvden, W. G., I, 77, 364; sketch of,
366
Dulin, Edgar S., II, 102
Dulin, Garrettson, II, 353
Dunlap, Frank E., II, 86
Dupuv, Joseph, I, 379, 381
Dustin. George P., II, 306
Dyas, B. H., Ill, 773
Earl, Edwin T., HI, 906
Earl. Jacob W., II, 206
Eastman, James G., I, 352
Eaton, B. S., I, 72
Eaton, Fred, suggests Owens river as
source of water supply, I. 229, 231
Eckstrom, Albert A., Ill, 535
Eckstrom. Daisy W., Ill, 535
Edgar, William P., II, 186
Edison Company, I, 396
Education: Los Angeles schools in
1904, I. 75; first public school of
Los Angeles (1855), 96; Los Ange-
les Board organized (1869), 109;
pioneer schools and teaching in
pueblo, 238; Mexican governor advo-
cates girls' school (1844), 240; first
American school (1851), 241; first
organized school system and public
school (1854-55), 242; progress in
1855-70, 243; Los Angeles's first
high school (1872), 244; first high
school graduating class. 245; modern
expansion of system, 246 : industrial
and technical high schools, 247;
"ungraded" classes for backward
and defective children, 248; classes
for the deaf and blind, and the
health and development department,
established, 1905-07, 249; physical
and manual training introduced.
1909-10, 250; work of the "neigh-
borhood schools, ' ' 251 ; specialties of
city high schools, 253; intermediate
schools, 252; World War work of
public schools, 255; school libraries,
258; vocational training, 259; part-
time school attendance, 261; pro-
vision for, at missions, 360
Edwards. Albert E., Ill, 683
Edwards, Hazel L. W., Ill, 684
Eichelberger, Elizabeth J., Ill, 807
Eiehelberger, Harry, III, 808
Eisner, Fred E., HI, 580
Electric Interurban car system, I, 138
Electric Power introduced (1892), I,
394
Elliott, J. M., I, 116
Ellis, J. W., I, 310, 320
Ellis, T. J., I, 365
Ellis Club, I, 379, 381
El Monte, I. 89
Elmendorf, Charles H., II, 239
Elwell, James F., in, 583
Elysian Park, I, 122, 370
Emerson, Bonnie O., Ill, 762
Emerson, Willis G., Ill, 761
Emory, W. H., diary describes cam-
paign against. Flores, I, 168
Encina ranch, I, 149
Enderlv, Mae S., in, 720
Engelhardt, Zephyrin, I, 301
Estudillo, Jose Antonio, I, 301
Etchemendy, Jean, II, 111
Etchmendv. Madeleine, II, 112
Evarts, William M., I, 342
Evy, Edward, I, 365
Exposition Park, I, 143, 372
Fairbanks, Douglas, III, 821
Falls, M. M., I, 257
Fargo, Duane W., II, 379
Faris, William A., II, 69
Farmers and Merchants Bank, I, 80,
95, 111
Farnham, Lewis M., LI, 317
Fay, Eli, I, 315 ; good minister and
judge of real estate, 320
Fay, John J., Jr., Ill, 776
Fazenda, Louise M., Ill, 811
Feast of Corpus Christi (1858), I,
Federal Building site perfected (1905-
7), I, 140
Fee, William R., II, 175
Feitshans, Frederick E,, LEI, 904
Felix, Vincenti, I, 34, 35; acting eom-
isionado, 148
Ferguson, Jessie, I, 37
Ferrel, William C, I, 365
Figueroa, Jose, best of all governors,
I, 151 .
Filson, Al W., II, 369
First Baptist Church, I, 314
First book printed in Los Angeles
(William Money, author), I, 283
First bricks made, I, 192
First California Code of Laws (1779),
I, 26
First cement pavement, I, 118
First. Chinese riot in Los Angeles
(1871), I, 112
First city directory, I, 110
First commercial wireless system, I,
140
First conveyance of crown land to
Californian, I, 339
First election under State govern-
ment (1850), I, 360
First electrical lighting, I, 122
First four wheel vehicles, I, 184
INDEX
First Grand Opera in California
(1847), I, 378
First Harbor Board, I, 143
First Judicial District (Mexican sys-
tem). I, 337
First justice of the peace, I, 361
First known American ship at San
Pedro (1805), I, 149
First National Bank, Los Angeles, I,
First organized immigration party
(1841), I, 154
First ostrich farm, I, 123
First Protestant sermon preached in
Los Angeles, I, 319
First Protestant Society of the City
of Los Angeles, its Constitution
(1859), I, 309, 319
First Presbyterian Church, I, 310
First public structures, I, 147
First real piano recital in San Fran-
cisco, I, 378
First school in Los Angeles, I, 238
First street pavement laid, I, 132
First substantial bridge, I, 110
First successful water power grist
mill, I, 152
First teachers' institute, I, 243
First telephones in Los Angeles, I, 120
First vicar general of the diocese, I,
317
First white child born in Los Angeles
of American parents, I, 95
First Wilmington railwav car, I, 1S4
First woolen mill, I, 113
Fish, Charles W., Ill, 908
Fish harbor created on Terminal
Island, I, 212
Fisher, William, I, 37
Fitzgerald, E. H., death of, I, 72
364
Fitzgerald, George, I, 72
Flagg, Edwin H., Ill, 833
Fleckles, M., Ill, 791
Fleming, Edward J., Ill, 685
Fleming, Thomas J., Ill, 834
Fletcher, J. C, I, 276
Fletcher, William H., Ill, 704
Floods of 1815 and 1825, I, 150
Flores, Jose Maria, I, 156, 158, 160;
sketch of, I, 163, 171, 173; flees to
Sonora (January, 1846), 174; turns
over command to Andres Pico, 177
Flower, Samuel, I, 366
Flugge, Charles W., I, 183
Foord, James, I, 89
Forbes, Frank S., Ill, 519
Forbes, Harry W., Ill, 910
Foreman, L. O., Ill, 915
Foreman & Clark, III, 914
Forman, Charles, II, 75
Forman, Eloise, II, 77
Forman, Mary A., II, 76
Fort Moore, completed (July 4, 1847),
I, 164; ground broken for (January
12, 1846), 175 J
Forve, Philip, II, 109
Foster, John, I, 74
Foster, Stephen C, I, 66, 96, 165, 167
242
Foster, Thomas T., I, 281, 309
Foster, Timothy, I, 365
Foy, Sam C, I, 198
Francis, John F., Ill, 700
Frank, Herman W., Ill, 742
Frank, Lawrence L., Ill, 485
Franz, Otto B., II, 575
Fredericks, John D., II, 212
Freebey, Grace A., Ill, 477
Freeman, Daniel, ll, 123
Fremont, Jessie Benton, III, 441
Fremont, John C, his visit to Los
Angeles, I, 73; refuses to leave Cali-
fornia (1846), 154; marches into Los
Angeles, 160; receives capitulation
of Californians from Andres Pico,
176, 177, 179; placed under arrest
at Fort Leavenworth, 180; III, 441
Friday Morning Club, I, 135
Friedlander, Samuel H.,' Ill, 675
Friends Church, I, 316
Frost, Charles H., Ill, 461
Frost, Howard, III, 461
Fuller, Clarence M., Ill, 792
Fuller, George, III, 836
Fuller, Ysidora C, III, 837
Gaffey, John T., Ill, 898
Gaffnev, Robert J., II, 300
Gage, John H., Ill, 484
Galbraith, Isaac, I, 37
Gale, Herbert D., II, 323
Gale, T. C, I, 290
Gallagher, John J., II, 159
Gallardo, Rafael, I, 165
Galpin, Lloy, II, 354
Galusha, Elon G., Ill, 459
Gambling, licensed houses in Los An-
geles, I, 94
Ganahl, Frank, I, 345, 348
Gard, George E., I, 365
Garden of Paradise, I, 193
Garfias, Manuel, I, 360, 365
Garland, William M., Ill, 879
Garra, Antonio, Indian chief, 1, 72;
executed for insurrection and mur-
der (1851), 73
Garsse, Leo G., Ill, 501
Gates, Addie, I, 245
Gaylord, J. W., I, 281
Gearing, Harry, II, 336
Geibel, Martin E., II, 394
General Petroleum Company, I, 212
Gerberding, C. O., I, 275
Germain, Eugene, III, 682
Germain, Marc L., Ill, 682
Gesell, F. A., Ill, 897
Getman, W. C., I, 94, 365
Getty, George F., II, 220
Getz, Milton E., HE, 775
Gibbon, Thomas E., II, 51
Gibbs, George C, I, 365
Gibbs, Robert A., II, 293
Giesler, H. L., Ill, 791
Gilbert, Aletha M., II, 402
Gilbert, William I., Ill, 524
Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pinafore,"
first produced in the West, I, 389
Gilfillan, Sennet W., II, 163
Gillett, J. W., I, 365
Gilligan, John J., Ill, 457
Gillis, Robert C, III, 846
Girls' Collegiate School, III, 453
Gish, Dorothy, III, 886
Gish, Lillian, "ill, 885
Gish, Mary, III, 885
Gitchell, j. R., I, 309, 310, 362, 366
Glass, Joseph S., Ill, 738
Glassell, Andrew, Sr., I, 344; III, 730
Glassell, Andrew V, III, 733
Globe Milling Company, I, 216
Gold excitement of 1855, I, 99
Gold Hunter, first steamer into San
Pedro Harbor, I, 93
Golden Gate, so called bv John C.
Fremont, I, 203
Gooden, Robert B., II, 195
Goodfellow, Ferd, III, 725
Goodfellow, Walter "V., m, 725
Goodyear Tire Company, I, 396
Gordon, Frederick V., II, 321
Goudge, Herbert J., II, 338
Gould, Norma, III, 789
Gould, Will D., I, 345
Governor fares forth from San Ga-
briel to found Royal City, I, 31
Graham, Montgomery P., I, 167
Granger, Louis, I, 69, 242, 361
Grass, Joseph F., II, 207
Graves, Jackson A., I, 80, 116; his
reminiscences, 343; III, 534
Grav. Alice, III, 691
Grav, J. B., I, 320
Gray, William H., I, 365
Great Salt Lake Express, from Los
Angeles to Salt Lake, I, 99
Great Southern Distribution of Real
Estate and Personal Property, I,
202
Green, B. F., HI, 845
Greenbow, Robert, I, 366
Gregory, XVI, I, 295
Greer, Paul E., HI, 677
Gregson, Frederick P., Ill, 733
Griffin, John S., I, 87, 277; sketch of,
2S0, 281
Griffith, Griffith J., I, 139, 372
Griffith Park, I, 139; sceond largest
municipal park in the United States,
372
Grimsley, Oma L., Ill, 491
Grove Play of the Bohemian Club of
San Francisco, I, 379
Groves, Benjamin F., in, 501
Grundv, C. Fred, m, 454
Gude, Albert L., II, 162
Guerrero, Jose Vincente, I, 165
Guinn, J. M., I, 199, 243, 278
Guinn, S. M., I, 245
Guinn 's "History of California," I,
125
Haas, Walter F., II, 224
Haggartv, John J., II, 108
Hahn, Benjamin W., II, 145
Haight, Fletcher M., I, 366
Haley, John, I, 37
Hall,* Hiland, I, 366
Halleck, H. W., I, 362
Halsted, Abel S., in, 718
Hamburger, A., I, 120
Hamilton, Alle S., IH, 676
Hamilton, John J., n, 272
Hammon, Percy V., ni, 540
Hammond, T. H., I, 164
Hampton, William E., IH, 673
Hanby, J. Walter, III, 514
Hancock, Allan, I, 95
Hancock, George A., II, 82
Hancock, Henrv, I, 95; II, 80
Hancock, Winfield S., I, 72, 104
Handley, Lorin A., n, 370
Hanna," Byron C, n, 213
Hanna, George, II, 373
Hannon, J. C, I, 365
Hansen, Andrew C, H, 378
Hansen, George I, 85
Hansen, Homer A., HI, 606
Harbert, William S., Ill, 679
Harbor of Los Angeles, I, 208
Hardacre, Ralph B., Ill, 572
Harding, W. C, I, 310
Hardy, Carlos S., II, 377
Harker, Rosamond C, III, 548
Harmon, William P., II, 103
Harris, Emil, I, 365
Harris, Nick, III, 471
Harrison, Harry W., II, 435
Hartman, Isaac, I, 366
Hartranft, Marshall V., Ill, 767
Hartsook, Fred, III, 760
Harvard School for Bovs, The, II.
193
Haskins, Samuel M., II, 32
Hauser, H. J., ni, 601
Hauser, Julius, III, 600
Hawlev, Wanda, III, 866
Hav, John C, I, 315
INDEX
Hay, W. H., Ill, 576
Hayes, Benjamin, I, 62 77, 360, 361,
364
Hayes, Louisa, first woman teacher,
I, 243
Hayes, R. T., I, 281
Hayward, Henderson, II, 101
Hayward, J. A., I, 108
Hazard, Henry T., I, 353, 362
Hazzard Pavilion, I, 381
Heffner, Harry L., Ill, 512
Heinsch, Herman, III, 540
Heinsch, Rudolph C., III, 541
Hellman, Herman W., Ill, 617
Hellman, Irving H., Ill, 525
Hellman, I. W., I, 86, 95, 186, 345
Hellman, Marco H., Ill, 618
Hellman, Haas & Company, I, 83
Hellman, Temple & Company, I, 108
Helm, Lynn, II, 278
Helms, William T., Ill, 751
Henry, Mrs. John H., Ill, 748
Hepburn, II. P., I, 362
Herman, Fred H., Ill, 481
Hertz, Alfred. I, 381
Hertz, Henri, I, 378
Hewitt, Elbridge E., Ill, 572
Hiatt, John C, III, 671
Hiatt, William M., Ill, 672
Hiekeox, Ross T., Ill, 728
Higgins, Thomas, II, 151
Hijar, Jose Maria, I, 360
Hill, Louis C, II, 37
Hill, W. H., I, 320
Hiuehman, A. F., I, 95
Hines, George, I, 365
"History of the Bench and Bar of
Southern California, ' ' by Willough
by Rodman, I, 325
Hoak, E. K., II, 399
Hobbs, William, I, 314
Hodgdon, Marie C, III, 695
Hodges, A. P., I, 280, 281
Hole, Willitts J., II, 164
Hollenbeck, Elizabeth, I, 372
Hollenbeck, Mrs. J. E., I, 135
Hollenbeck Home for Aged People,
I, 135
Hollenbeck Park, I, 135, 372
Holliday, Ben, I, 184
Hollisters of Santa Barbara, I, 78
Hollywood Cemetery, III, 552
Hohnes, Gene C.,"IH, 786
Holmes Disappearing Bed Company,
III, 785
Holterhoff, Godfrey, Jr., Ill, 598
Holton, George L., II, 226
Home, George K., Ill, 547
Hooker, John D., Ill, 586
Hoover, Juan L., I, 190
Hoover, Vincent, I, 190
Hoover Art Company, The, II, 102
Hope, A. W., I, 280, 281
Hope, Mav M., II, 264
Hopper, Charles B., Ill, 641
Horn, Carl F., II, 436
Horning, Benjamin, I, 384
Horse races, famous, I, 67-69
Hosick, James, II, 292
Hospital of the Good Samaritan Stu
dent Body Government, III, 624
Hospitals first founded (1857), I, 100
Hotchkiss, A. B., I, 356
Hotel Nadeau, I, 120
Hough, A. M., I, 319
Howard, Edward A., Ill, 819
Howard, Fred W., Ill, 794
Howard, Fredrick P., Ill, 754
Howard, J. G. (Jim), T, 345, 346, 362
Howard, Ozora W., Ill, 755
Howard, Paul J., Ill, 877
Howard, Volney E., I, 345, 350, 365,
' 366
Howard, William F., II, 223
Howdershell, Bedford J., Ill, 610
Howland, Charles H., II, 124
Howland, F. H., I, 120
Huber, Joseph, I, 190
Hudson, Rodney, I, 365
Hughes, Thomas, III, 856
Hughes, W. E., I, 398
Hunsaker, William J., I, 356; II, 221
Hunt, Fred L., II, 414
Hunter, Edward, I, 366
Hunter, Jesse D., I, 163, 192
Hunter, Robert E., II, 130
Huntington, Collis P., I, 113
Huntington, Henrv E., I, 89, 140; II,
43
Hutchins, C. J., I, 320
Hutton, Aurelius W., II, 230
Hyatt, Chauncev W., II, 283
Hyatt, Mary J., II, 284
Ihmseu, Maximilian F., II, 181
Illustrations: Nature near San Gabriel
before man appeared, I, 3; irrigat-
ing an orange grove by present-
day growers, 28; San Pedro (Los
Angeies) a "Real Harbor," 39;
Old Los Angeles contrasted with
new: Pershing Square, 47; Avalon,
Santa Catalina Island, 57; modern
schools of Southern California, Pas-
adena, 76; Colorado Street bridge,
81; Old Court House, 84; buildings
now covering old Pasadena, 88;
"Real" hotel of today on Long
Beach, 94; Los Angeles in 1854 look-
ing eastward, 97; Los Angeles
about 1857, 100; Los Angeles Har-
bor in 1858, 103; Los Angeles Har-
bor in 1860, 105; corner of Palisade
Park, Santa Monica, 111; opening
of first electric line (1885), 115;
Plaza Mission and Workman 's
Rancho, 119; Los Angeles in the
80 's, 121; Cawston's ostrich farm in
still life, 124; Main Street in the
80 's looking north and northeast,
126; Southern California Bungalow
Court, 128; Los Angeles views in
the early 80 's, 131; Los Angeles
thirty years ago and today, 133;
oil field in Los Angeles, 136; Mount
Lowe astronomical observatorv,
138; Main Street in 1898, 139; Los
Angeles in 1900, 141; Broadway
looking south from Sixth Street in
1920, 143; entrance to Museum of
History, Science and Art, 144; old
mill at San Gabriel Mission, 153;
present appearance of Commodore
Stockton 's headquarters near the
Plaza, 161; sunny, beautiful Pasa-
dena of today, 172; looking west on
Temple Street of today, 188; view
on the present Main Street, the
Los Angeles reservoir, 194; the
Plaza, Pico House and old gas
works, 198; Los Angeles harbor,
gateway to the Far East, 207; Los
Angeles harbor as a lumber receiv-
ing port, 211; fish headquarters, Los
Angeles harbor, 213; great oil
tankers plying in and out of the
harbor, 215; steamship unloading
wheat from Australia, 218; great
shipbuilding company preparing for
the future, 220; sliding out of Los
Angeles harbor, 225; headwaters of
Owens River, source of Los Ange-
les's water supply, 227; Los
Angeles, the southwestern metrop-
olis, 236; Los Angeles High School,
239; old High School site of the
present courthouse, 244; the Poly-
technic High School, 254; a church
district of Los Angeles, 294; Young
Men's Christian Association Build-
ing, 313; the law's dignity of to-
day, 324; along the Los Angeles
ocean front, 369; on the beach at
Ocean Park, 371; Pershing Square
in miniature, 374; Temple Audi-
torium, Los Angeles, 377; Trinity
Auditorium, 386; scenes in Los
Angeles of today, 389; a great pub-
lic institution — the Los Angeles
Terminal Market, 393; Launching
of the "Angeles," 395; Goodyear
Tire and Rubber Company at Ver-
non, 397; the Federal building and
vicinity, 399; Main and Temple
streets, opposite present postoffice,
399; Spring Street looking south
from Second Street in 1899, 403;
beautiful bungalows of the modern
city, 406; scenes in downtown Los
Angeles, 408; Spring Street looking
north from Third Street, 1900, 409;
City Hall at San Pedro and Los
Angeles Harbor, 411; Pacific Mutual
building, 413
Immaculate Heart College, n, 358
Immaculate Heart of Marv Church,
III, 591
Imperial Valley cotton, I, 221
Independent Steamship Company, I,
212
Indians: Native villages of California,
I, 2; uprisings of, 1850-51, 71; pro-
tected under Spanish laws, 326
Industries: Origin of navel orange
industry (1873), I, 113; Drought of
1876-77 devastates sheep industry
of Southern California, 118; citrus
industry saved (1889), by the
"lady-bug," 122; oil, of Los An-
geles district, 135; Hemp raising
(1806-10), 149; grape culture and
wine making (1851-56), 190; wine
producers of 1856-61, 191; fish and
oil sections of Los Angeles harbor,
212; industries located at Los An-
geles harbor — stone quarry, ship-
building yards, fish canning, refrig-
erating and ice making, vegetable
oil refining, 214; fine sites for fac-
tories in San Pedro and Wilmington
districts, 224; deciding factors in
development of, 237; oil and elec-
tricity as stimulants to, 394; oil in
the Los Angeles district, 410
Ingraham, Irving E., Ill, 592
Innes, Stephen, II, 363
Ireland, William F., II, 63
Irvin, Edward S., II, 277
Jackling, Frances, II, 209
Jackson, Helen Hunt, I, 120
Jacobs, Jay B., II, 375
Jacobson, Nils, III, 567
Jarchow, Joachim H. F., HI, 493
Jarchow, Johanna K., Ill, 494
Jauch, Joseph W., Ill, 762
Jenkins, George S., Ill, 531
Jenkins, John J., Ill, 530
Jess, Stoddard, I, 143
Joachim, Sister M., in, 624
Joliansing, Harry G., II, 411
Johnson, C. R., I, 364
Johnson, Gail B., II, 60
Johnson, Hancock, I, 87
Johnson, Joseph H., II, 171
Johnson, Milbank, II, 349
Johnson, Reverdy, I, 342
Johnston, Albert S., I, 104
INDEX
xvii
Jonathan Club, III, 610
Jones (Commodore) Catesby, takes
possession of Monterey, I, 154
Jones, C. K., I, 315
Jones, Edward B., Ill, 937
Jones, E. W., I, 398, 400
Jones, Frederic H., Ill, 587
Jones, John H., in, 930
Jones, John M., I, 366
Jones, John P., I, 80; III, 886
Jones, John T., I, 242
Jones, Johnstone, II, 195
Jones, Mattison B., Ill, 520
Jones, William C, I, 362
Jones, Wilson W., I, 281, 364
Joney, William C, I, 362
Jovner, Frank H., II, 396
Junior "R. O. T. C," I, 257
Kabierske, Henry, I, 382
Kahn, John, III, 714
Karr, Frank, II, 429
Kayser, Emil, HI, 782
Kearny, Stephen W., I, 155, 160;
sketch of, 168; leaves Monterey for
Washington, 180
Keetch, Arthur, III, 495
Keleher, Timothy J., Ill, 883
Keller, Matthew, I, 190, 344
Keller, Will E., II, 73
Kellogg, Fred E., Ill, 827
Kelly, Frank A., Ill, 869
Kennard, Edwin H., Ill, 623
Kennedv, Samuel M., Ill, 559
Kerckhoff, William G., I, 89; II, 34
Kern county gold excitement, I, 99
Kerr, John'A. H., Ill, 793
Kewen, E. J. C, I, 89, 347
Kewen & Howard, I, 347
Kidd, W. H. A., I, 365
Kimball, Mrs. Jesse Y., II, 409
King, A. J., I, 309, 364
King, James, I, 275, 276
Kingslev, John A., II, 397
Kingston, Winifred, III, 812
Kinney, Albert, I, 118
Kip, William I., I, 107
Kirchhoffer, Mary Elizabeth Y., Ill,
Kirchhoffer, Eichard B., IH, 725
Koeberle, John E., Ill, 488
Koebig, Adolph H., II, 371
Kreider, Samuel L., Ill, 750
Kremer, Morice, I, 365
Kuhn, Christopher, I, 185
Kurtz, Joseph, I, 365
Kuster, Edward G., Ill, 631
"La Boheme, " sung for the first time
in America, I, 380
LaBrea Eancho, I, 95
Lackey, Bertram D, II, 99
Lacy, Eichard H., Ill, 765
La Estrella de Los Angeles (The Los
Angeles Star), I, 96
Lafayette Park, I, 373
Lake, Delos, I, 348
Lake Vineyard, I, 185
Lamson, George F., I, 197
Land grants: Old Spanish, I, 338; by-
Mexican governors, 340; by Mexican
Government, I, 341 ; investigation of,
in Southern Military District of Cal-
ifornia (1847), I, 343
Landers, J. H., sketch of, I, 363
Landes, Mrs. Henry B., Ill, 620
Lanfranco, Juan T., I, 187
Lanfranco Block, I, 83
Langdon, Frederick C, III, 709
Lankershim, Isaac, I, 109
Lara, Josede, I, 30
Larkin, Thomas O., I, 179
Larrabee, Mrs. M. A., I, 379
Larronde, Juana E., II, 112
Larronde, Pierre, II, 112
Lasher, George W., I, 268
Lauer, Mrs. Emanuel H., Ill, 676
Laughlin, Homer, II, 175
Laughlin, Richard, I, 37, 64
Lawlor, William I, 243
Lawrence, Joseph V., I, 37
Lavne and Bowler Corporation, III,
480
Lazard, Solomon, I, 71, 187
Lazard store, I, 193
Lazarovich-Hrebrelnnovich, I, 382
Leach, Martin A., HI, 928
Leach, Wallace, I, 355
Leandrv, J. B., I, 37
Leek, Henry, I, 245
Lee, Bradner W., Ill, 542
Legislature of a Thousand Drinks, I,
Lehman, George, I, 193
Lelia Byrd, first American ship to
arrive at San Pedro, I, 149
Lemoreau, Louis, I, 70
Leonis, Miguel, I, 348
Lestrade, Anacleto, I, 317
Letts, Arthur, I, 139; II, 117
Levi, Simon, II, 374
Levy, Al, III, 445
Levy, Isaac O., II, 261
Lewis, August E., Ill, 443
Lewis, S. B., I, 398
Lewis, Thomas A., I, 400
Libraries, School, I, 258
Library Association organized (1859),
I, 102
Lichtenberger, Louis, I, 85
Lillie, Arthur C, II, 436
Lincoln Park, I, 373
Lincoln's assassination, news of, in
Los Angeles, I, 106
Lindley, Milton, III, 603
XV111
INDEX
Lindley, Walter, I, 290; III, 004
Linnard, D. M., Ill, 890
Linton, G. W., I, 315
Lippincott, J. B., I, 231
Live Stock: Introduction of Ohio im-
proved sheep (1854), I, 78; cattle
trade in 1850-60, 187; statistics for
1865, 1875, 1876, 189
Llewellvn, John, III, 801
Lloyd, Ralph B., II, 131
Loeb, Adrien, II, 161
Loewenthal, Max, III, 475
Longvear, Willis D., Ill, 802
Loop, C. F., I, 320
Lorenzana, Apolinaria, I, 36
Loring Club, I, 379
Los Angeles (El Pueblo La Senora
de la Reina Los Angeles): Founded,
I, 11 ; owes water supply to San
Gabriel, 18; pioneer settlers of, 29;
its twelve historic families, 30;
mothered by San Gabriel, 31; as
fixed by Gobernador Felipe de Neve,
32; its population in 1790, 33; its
first mayor and grand high com-
missioner, 34; rise of landed barons,
35; as a health resort, 36; its first
church (Plaza) founded, 37; a bad
young town, 38; population 2, Olio
(1835), 41; its original "booster,"
41!; becomes city and California's
capital, 43; California's capital only
in name, 44; its old days and mas-
ters of hospitality, 40; famous horse
center, 4S; old Calif ornians of, tem-
perate in all things, 51; its women
in olden times, 55; old life centered
around Plaza, 59; rare old history
of, 02; traders of (1826-1831), 63;
California center of New Mexican
trade, 64 ; early traders become
settlers of, 65; posses from Mexi-
can city rule, 66; its first three
American families, 69; its "town
farms" (1847-48), 70; description
of. in 1854, 74; population and
schools in 1904, 75; a court center
of the Southern California district
(early 50 's), 77; conditions in 1875,
SO; leading residences and orange
groves in 1875, 86; favorite drives
in 1875, 87; population in 1875, 1880,
19H0, 1920, 90; first passenger road
opened to San Pedro harbor (1849),
93; gambling houses licensed (1850),
94; city affairs and arrivals in early
50 's, 95; headquarters for filibus-
ters and bandits (1857), 100; im-
provements of 1857-58 and new port
inaugurated, 101; news to, bj' pony
express (1860-61), 102; first yeaV
of Civil War in, 104; leases city
water works to Los Angeles City
Water Co., 108; her centenary cele-
brated, 120; secures Santa Fe rail-
road connection (1885), 123; cheap
gas boom collapses, 127; new city
charter adopted, 132; her unequaled
electric interurban system, 138; its
fiesta, 138; takes over water works,
140; consolidation of, with San
Pedro and Wilmington (1909), 142;
original pueblo of (1781), 146; first
governed by comisionado, 147; land
grants and 'progress, 1785-1800, 148;
progress from 1810 to 1820, 149;
changes in its local administration,
150; storm center in Mexican poli-
tics (1822-47), 151; occupation of
by American troops described by
native writer, 159; surrenders to
American forces (January 10,
1846), 173; center of Mexico-Cali-
fornia (January, 1846), 175; incor-
porated as city (April 4, 1850),
180; "Ord's survey" and city map
of, 181; merchants of 1844-49,
183; merchants of 1847-53, 185;
merchants of 1854-06, 186; stores
of 1850, 195; how its pioneer mer-
chants advertised, 199; port of San
Pedro becomes its harbor, 208; re-
ceives State title of Wilmington
harbor lands and extends corporate
boundaries, 209; Board of Harbor
Commissioners created (1907), 209;
harbor districts absorbed (1909),
great extension of works, 210; great
seaport of the Southwest, 217;
gateway to the Orient and western
South America, 223; grand source
of its water supply, 226-37 ; ad-
vantages as industrial city, 237; its
first school under American rule
(1851), 241; public school system
organized, 242; changes in educa-
tional system, 1853-1903, 245; its
night schools, 246; present status
of public schools, 261; its early
sanitary measures (1847), 288; sani-
tary measures, 1850-68, 289; public
measures relating to contagious dis-
eases, 290; becomes part of Roman
Catholic diocese of California, 295;
incorporation as city, 329; its parks,
370-75; opera in, 380; world center
of "movies," 386; "City (The)
Advertising Built," 391; popula-
tion, 1781-1920, 404; rise as a cos-
mopolitan city, 402; middle west
chief contributor to growth, 405;
general progress of decade, 1900-10,
407; transportation center of Pacific
Coast, 410; bird's-eye view of, 411
INDEX
Los Angeles Athletic Club organized
(1879), I, 123
Los Angeles Aqueduct, I, 391
Los Angeles Board of Education sells
valuable city property, I, 122
Los Angeles Board of 'Trade, I, 111,
137
Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
(see also Los Angeles Board of
Trade), I, 137, 388, 401
Los Angeles City Water Company, I,
108
Los Angeles Clinical Group of Physi-
cians and Surgeons, III, 721
Los Angeles County Bank, I, 80, 114
Los Angeles Examiner, II, 181
Los Angeles Furniture Company, I, 83
Los Angeles Gas Company, I, 129
Los Angeles Harbor (See also San
Pedro) as a cotton port and indus-
trial center, I, 214; as home port
of Pacific Squadron (U. S. Navy),
and leading station of Pacific
steamship lines, 216; building of,
at small expense, 218; shipment of
citrus fruits from, by all-water
route, 219; official designation, 143
Los Angeles Infirmary, I, 101
Los Angeles Mounted Rifles, I, 104
Los Angeles-Pacific Navigation Com-
pany, I, 212
Los Angeles Shipbuilding Company, I,
396
Los Angeles Star: first newspaper
(1851), I, 96, 199, 312, 368
Los Angeles State Normal School, I,
262, 263
Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra, I,
381
Los Angeles Theatre, I, 380
Los Angeles Water Company, I, 118
Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad,
I, 108; opened (October 26, 1869),
110, 208
Los Angeles, San Pedro and Salt
Lake Railroad completed (1905),
I, 142
Lott, Melvina A., Ill, 515
Lowe, T. S. C, I, 127, 137
Lucky, W. T., I, 244
Lugo, Antonio Maria: California's
most famous horseman, I, 48; an
ideal host, 49, 74; death of, 167
Lugo, Felipe, I, 189
Lugo, Vicente, I, 60, 189
Lugo Raneho, site of present Los An-
geles, I, 48
Lummis, Charles F., I, 323, 378
Lutz, Walter H., Ill, 703
Lyon, Charles W., II, 248
Lyric Club, I, 379, 381
Lytell, Bert, III, 899
Macauley, Charles R., Ill, 932
Macdonald, J. Wiseman, III, 513
Mace, W. H., I, 345, 349
MacGregor, Norval, I, 384
Machado, Augustin, I, 189
Maclellan, D. W., I, 365
Mack, George, III, 453
Macneil, Louise, III, 819
Macneil, Sayre, II, 57
Macpherson, Jeanie C, III, 65S
Mac Rae, Henry, III, 874
Magdalen, Sister Mary, III, 358
Mahoney, Timothy, III, 462
Makinson, Emma P., II, 380
Mallard, J. S., I, 69, 361
Manual training introduced into pub-
lic schools (1910), I, 250
Maple Avenue Evening High School,
I, 247
Marine Railway. 1, 216
Marsh, John, I," 64, 277, L'TH
Marsh, Robert, III, 805
Marshutz, Siegfried G., Ill, 522
Martin, Albert C, II, 33
Martin, Norman R., II, 116
Martin, William A., Ill, 634
Martindale, Emory D., Ill, 627
Martinez, Incarnaeion, death of, I, 73
Mascarel, Jose, I, 95, 183
Mason, Dean, III, 926
Mason, George, III, 925
Mason, Richard B., I, 165, 179; re-
quests justice of peace not to marry
Catholics to Protestants (1847),
304
Mason Opera House, I, 386
Masons: first meeting at the Botica,
I, 73; first lodge chartered (1854),
98
Mathews, William B., Ill, 504
Maynard, Rea E., II, 159
McAllister, Hall, I, 342
McArthur, Anna, I, 243
McCan, Martha N., Ill, 596
McCarthy, Daniel O., Ill, 664
McCarthv, E. Avery, III, 610
McCarthy, John M., Ill, 465
McCarthv, Mary B., Ill, 668
McCarthy, Neil S., Ill, 848
McCollough, Alexander M. F., Ill, 684
McCollough, Emma A. M., Ill, 685
McCollough, Vernon C, III, 685
McComas, Alice M., Ill, 689
McComas, Charles C, III, 688
McCoy, John O, II, 431
McCoy, Mary H. R., II, 432
McCov, Thomas J., Ill, 669
McDonald, Estelle C, III, 703
McDonald, Robert W., Ill, 701
McDonnell, Mary, III, 630
McEntire, Walter F., II, 437
McFadden, William M., I, 243
MoFarland, J. P., I, 281
McGarry, Daniel F., II, 384
McGarry, Daniel M., II, 383
McGarry, J. A., Ill, 636
McGarry, J. F., Ill, 856
McGarry, Michael J., II, 90
McGarry, Patrick J., II, 88
McGarvin, Don C, III, 692
McGrath, Patrick J., II, 138
McGroarty, Ida L., I, 383
McGroarty, John S., Ill, 938
McKee, J. H., I, 290
McKee, William, I, 309, 310
McKune, J. H., I, 366
McLaren, D., I, 309
McLaren, Malcom, III, 588
McManus, Joseph, II, 106
McMullen, William C, III, 458
MeMurrin, Joseph W., II, 347
McNair, David, III, 619
McNealy, W. R., I, 357
McQuigg, Martin V., HI, 455
McVay, William E., II, 138
Meade, Agnes S., II, 279
Meade, G. Walter, II, 279
Medical fees (1850), I, 273
Medina, Guadalupe, I, 240, 241
Melius, Francis, sketch of, I, 186, 242
Melius, Henry, I, 193
Mennillo, Frank A., II, 46
Menondez, Jose Antonio, I, 183
Mercantile Place, I, 122
Merrill, Edward S., Ill, 725
Merrv, Arthur L., Ill, 581
Mesa", Antonio, I, 30
Mesmer, Joseph, III, 798
Messenger, H. H., I, 320
Metcalf, John N., Ill, 743
Methodist College established (1880),
I, 118
Meyer, Mendel, I, 84, 187
Meyers, Lillian M., II, 436
Mexican National Assembly (Cali-
fornia representative), I, 150
Mexican War: Declared by American
Congress, I, 155; Los Angeles occu-
pied by American forces, 156; pro-
nunciamento issued by Mexican
commander, 157; battle at "Pieo
Crossing," 160; after close, ayun-
tamiento (town council) dissolved
by military governor, 165; local
American officials gain favor, Amer-
ican army departs, 166; news of
treaty of Guadalupe Hidalago
reaches Los Angeles (August 15,
1848), 167; battle of January 8,
1846, 169; battle of January 9,
1846, 171; treaty of capitulation
signed (January 13, 1847), 176
Mieheltorena, Emmanuel, I, 152
Midway Gas Company, II, 318
Miles, Charles E., I, 365
Miller, A. Blanehard, III, 779
Miller, Eleanor, in, 611
Miller, John B., II, 254
Milliken, Lillian, I, 245
Milliron, Clark J., II 235
Millspaugh Hall, I, 263
Minzer, Leo, II, 53
Miranda, Antonio, I, 30
Mission orchard of San Gabriel, I, 189
Mission Play, I, 382; synopsis of its
three acts, 383
Missions: Franciscan, I, 10-23; Cali-
fornia secularized bv Spanish Cor-
tes (1813), 21; confiscated by Mexi-
can Government (1833), 22
Mitchel. Adelaide P., II, 290
Mitchell, Alexander, II, 213
Mitchell. Beatrice, II, 314
Mitchell, H. Milner, I, 365
Modini-Wood, C, I, 379
Molony, Clement, II, 146
Money, William, I, 282, 283; argues
five years with Catholic clergy
(1834-40), 286; fate of his dispu-
tants, 287; death of, 288
Money's (Wm.) "Discovery of the
Ocean," I, 284
Money and money lending (1854), I,
98; effect of Civil war on green-
backs, 106
Monnette, Mervin J., II 203
Monnette, Orra E., II, 204
Monterey: Protests against Los An-
geles as California capital, I, 43;
refuses to capitulate as capital, 44;
a court center of the Southern Cali-
fornia district (early 50 's), 77, 179
Montgomery, Ernest A., II, 211
Montgomery, Francis S., Ill, 891
Montgomery, George A., II 312
Montgomery, Gertrude, III, 892
Montgomery, James A., II, 308
Montgomery, Los Angeles "aristo-
cratic ' ' gambling house, I, 94
Moody, Elmer I, III, 471
Moohr, Clara M., II, 423
Moore, Ben, I, 164
Moore, C. I. D., Ill, 616
Moore, Ernest C, I, 263
Moore, Harry E., Ill, 607
Moore, Ira, I, 262
Moore, Walter S., Ill, 566
Moore, William H, Jr., Ill, 736
Morales, Francisco, I, 38
Moran, Robert B., Ill, 913
Moreland, Watt L., II, 100
Moreno, Jose Matias, I, 167
Moreno, Juan Bautista, I, 160
Morosco, Oliver, a dominating figure
in the theatrical world, I, 385
INDEX
Morris, Oscar M., Ill, 507
Morrison, Murrav, I, 364; sketch of,
366
Morrow, William S., I, 309
Morton, Harold C, II, 399
Moses, Betsey B. C, II, 353
Moses, Cassius M., II, 351
Mosier, Martin H„ III 808
Mott, John G., Ill, 439
Mott, Stephen H., I, 364
Mott, Thomas* D., I, 364
Mount Lowe astronomical observa-
tory, I, 138
"Movies," Los Angeles as world cen-
ter of, I, 386
Mudd, Seeley W., Ill, 478
Mueller, Oscar C, II, 422
Muhleman, Frank L., II, 310
Mulholland, William, I. 118, 231;
sketch of, 232, 233, 235; II, 229
Mullaly, Porter & Ayers, I, 193
Mullen, Andrew, II, 134
Mullen, Edward F., II, 135
Mullen, Mary D., II, 135
Municipal building erected, I, 122
Mulqueeney, Patrick C., Ill, 840
Munro, John, II, 236
Murphv, Florence C, III, 646
Murphy, Thomas C, III, 645
Murphy, William K., II, 309
Murray, John E., II, 314
Museum of History, Science and Art,
I, 145
Mushet, William C, II, 173
Music and Art; From Greece to the
Pacific Coast, I, 376, 377; from In-
dian music to grand opera, 378;
early history of choral music in Los
Angeles, 379; opera in Los Angeles,
I, 380 ; Los Angeles world center of
Musser, Henry L., Ill, 632
Mvers, Charles L., II, 302
Myers, John S., II, 400
Mvers, Louis W., Ill, 793
Myles Place, I, 89
Nadeau, George A., Ill, 519
Nadeau, Remi, I, 120, III, 518
Navarro, Jose Antonio, I, 30
Navel Orange industry established
(1873), I, 113
Neighborhood schools, I, 250
Neuman, Edward, I, 187
New Church (Swedenborgian), I, 316
New Mexican trade, I, 64
Newlin, Thomas E., Ill, 479
Newmark, Harris, I, 60, 198; III, 449
Newmark, Maurice H., I, 143; III,
450
Newport, Fred P., Ill, 900
Nichols, John G., I, 69, 95, 274
Nigger Alley, I, 94
Night schools, I, 246
Nisbet, James, I, 276
Xordholdt, William, I, 72
Xordlinger, Louis S., II, 250
Nordlinger, Simon, II, 249
Norton, Myron, I, 72; sketch of, 363,
364
Noted events of 1851, I, 73
Oakley, Franc R., Ill, 828
Oakley, James, III, 828
Occidental (Presbyterian) College, I,
O'Connor, J. Robert, III, 486
O 'Conor, Charles, I, 342
Odell, Satnuel W., II, 356
O'Donoghue, Patrick, II, 200
Ogden, William B., Ill, 482
Ogier, Isaac S. K., I, 77, 309, 310, 365;
sketch of, 366
O 'Gorman, Michael, II, 95
Oil boom of 1892-1904, I, 135
Oil industry, I, 394
Olcovich, Emil, II, 282
Old jail, I, 85
Old courthouse, I. 85
Oldfield, Barney, III, 832
Old Plaza Church, II, 167
Old Soldiers Home, Sawtelle, I, 132
Olvera, Agustin, sketches of, I, 159.
360, 361
O'Melveny, H. K. S., I, 85, 86, 346,
364
O'Melveny, Henry, I, 245
O 'Melveny, Henry W., II, 25
O 'Neil, Patrick H., Ill, 558
O'Neil, Mrs. Richard, III, 567
Oneonta Park, I, 89
Orange county, carved from Los Ange-
les, I, 135 "
Orcutt, Leafie S., II, 385
Ord, Pacifieus, I, 366
Orfila, Antonio, II, 180
Orme, H. S., I, 268, 289
Orpheus Club, I, 379, 381
Ortega, Concepcion D., II, 186
Ortega, Emilio C, II, 184
Osborne, Henrv Z., Ill, 506
Osborne, W. B., I, 78, 281
Osbourn, Guillermo B., sketch of, I,
273
Osbourne, George, I, 384
Osteopathy in California, III, 909
Otis, Harrison G., I, 120, 139, 398; in,
840
"Our Italy," by Charles D. Warner,
I, 135
Overell, Arthur O., Ill, 780
Overns, Hugo, I, 242
Overstreet, Dr., I, 281
INDEX
Overton, Paul, II, 91
Owen, E. H., I, 365
Owens River, I, 229
Owens River Acqueduct, story of the
I, 226-37
Owens, Timon E., Ill, 570
Pacific Coast Oil Company, I, 90
Pacific Electric building, I, 140
Pacific Steamship Company, I, 212
Pacific Steamship lines operating from
Los Angeles, I, 216
Packard, Albert, I, 183
Packard, D. T., I, 320
Padres, Jose Maria, I, 360
Page, Benjamin E., n, 94
Page Military Academy, II, 293
Pahl, Harriet W., II, 225
Palethorpe, William J., II, 59
Palmer, Charles H., Jr., II, 349
Palmer, Frederick, II, 122
Palomares, Jose, I, 150
Palou, Francisco: Serra's successor as
father president of missions, I, 15;
literary works on Franciscan mis-
sions and missionaries, 16
Parent-Teachers Association, I, 255
Parker, Alexander, I, 312, 320
Parker, Claude I., II, 327
Parker (Horatio) prize opera, I, 381
Parker, I N., I, 314
Parker, O. K., I, 231
Parkinson, John, II, 221
Parks, I, 370-75
Parochial and private schools, I, 263
Parsons, Elias H., Ill, 769
Parsons, Mary A., Ill, 772
Pasadena: Settlement commenced in
1875, I, 89, 138
Pasadena Military Academy, III, 748
Pasadena Rose Tournament first held,
I, 135
Pascal, Julian, III, 694
Patton, George S., I, 345; II, 391
Patton, George S., Jr. Ill, II, 392
Paulding, Joseph, I, 65
Paulsen, Robert E., I, 379
Payne, Herbert A., Ill, 502
Peaehv, A. O, I, 362
Pearson, Benjamin F., Ill, 533
Peck, Arthur R., II, 218
Peck, Earl C, III, 734
Peek, George H., II, 120
Peckham, George C, IP, 406
Pelanconi, Antonio, II, 332
Pelanconi, Lorenzo A., II, 332
Pelanconi, Petra, II, 332
Pellissier, Germain, II, 289
Pellissier, Marie Julie, II, 290
Penelon, Henri, I, 192, 317
Penton, Joseph T., Ill, 677
Pershing Square, I, 373
Pesthouse built, I, 289
Pettebone, Henry W., II, 171
Pettingell, Frank H., II, 149
Pettit, Fred E., Jr., Ill, 903
Petty, F. Fern, III, 725
Philharmonic Orchestra, I, 381, 382
Phillips, Lee A., II, 20
Phillips, Louis, I, 356
Philp, Harry G. R., II, 192
Physicians and Surgeons: California's
first, I, 266; Spanish laws regulat-
ing the practice of medicine and sur-
gery, 327
Pickarts, Albert J., IU, 851
Pickrell, A. J., II, 215
Pico, Andres, I, 48, 156, 162; com
mander of California forces capita
lates to Fremont, 176, 189
Pico, Pio, I, 42, 60, 74; deposes Man
uel Victoria as governor, 151; last
governor under Mexico, 152, 165;
returns from Mexico, 167, 189, 301;
last of the Mexican governors, 341
Pico House, I, 80, 82
Piel, Jessie, I, 245
Pierce, Albert P., Ill, 469
Pillsbury, Bertha A., Ill, 509
Pillsbury, George E., Ill, 509
Pina, Maxima, I, 238
Pioneer auction house of 1850, T, 197
Pioneer barber, I, 201
Pioneer photographer of Los Angeles.
I, 317
Plaza, I, 59; sixty-five years ago, 60,
118; as originally laid out, 147;
memories of the, 367
Plaza Church founded (1814), I, 37;
in 1814-22, 150, 305; dedicated
(1822), 306; oldest parish church
on Pacific Coast, 307, 316
Politics: Jose Maria Carrillo runs for
Mexican Congress, I, 41 ; Carrillo 's
successful Congressional campaign
and revolution, 42; Los Angeles
storm center (1822 47), 151
Polytechnic High School, I, 247
Ponet, Ellen J., Ill, 893
Ponet, Victor, III, 892
Port of San Pedro, I, 208
Porter, "William J.. I, 325
Post, Hoyt, Jr., Ill, 662
Pottenger, Francis M., Ill, 806
Potter, N. A., I, 309, 310
Potts, A. W., I, 364
Poulin, J. B., I, 379
Poulin, J. P., I, 381
Powell, George H., Ill, 462
Powell, N. T., II, 216
Powell, Robert J., II, 311
Power, Tyrone, I, 384
Powers, John F., II, 154
Powers, L. M., I, 288
INDEX
xxin
Prat, Pedro, I, 265 ; California 's first
doctor, 266
Prather, Will C, II, 417
Prehoda, Frank J., II, 378
Presbyterian churches, I, 310
Press: Los Angeles newspapers of the
'50s, I, 79; first Los Angeles news-
paper (1851), 96; Daily Times first
issued (December 4, 1881), 120
Price, Frank T., II, 310
Pryor, Miguel N., I, 70, 165
Pryor, Nathaniel, I, 64
Property holders of 1851, I, 74
Protestant Episcopal churches, I, 311
Providencia Rancho (Burbank), I, 90
Pruitt, Drew, II, 114
Pueblos; how they differed from
American municipalities, I, 340
Puente, I, 89
Pure Food laws of 1538 I, 328
Purviance, Edna, III, 801
Putnam, Charles E., II, 365
Quinby, E. Collins, II, 110
Quintero, Luis, I, 30
Quinton, John H., II, 35
Quinton, Code & Hill, II, 35
Radford, Joseph D., II, 168
Raho, Bias, I, 317
Railroads: Status of Southern Pacific
in 1875, I, 80; opening of Los Ange-
les and San Pedro Railroad (Octo-
ber 26, 1869), 100; Civil War blocks
building of, 104, opposition to
(1866), 107; city and county votes
to aid Los Angeles & San Pedro
R. R., 108; Central Pacific Railroad
completed (1869), 109; extension
of Southern Pacific (1872), 112; di-
rect connection of Los Angeles with
Southern Pacific through San Fer-
nando tunnel, 118; Santa Fe reaches
Los Angeles (1885), 123; first
through service of Southern Pacific
Railroad inaugurated (August,
1887), I, 132; Santa Fe branch
from Los Angeles to San Diego com-
pleted in 1891, I, 134; steam, electri-
cized, I, 138; Los Angeles attempts
adjustment of rates with, I, 140;
connections between Los Angeles,
San Pedro and Wilmington, I, 208
Ralphs, Albert G., Jr., II, 271
Ralphs, George A., II, 270
Ralston, W. C, death of, I, 91
Ralston, W. C, I, 117
Ramirez, Jose Antonio, I, 37
Rancherias (Native Indian Villages),
Rand, June, II, 168
Randall, Charles H., Ill, 597
Ransford, John E., Ill, 466
Ransom, Adrian C, III, 653
Ransom, Don E., Ill, 653
Ransom, William E., Ill, 652
Read, Helen B., Ill, 757
Reardon, James A., II, 174
Recopilacion de las Indias (code of
Spanish colonial laws), I, 325; de-
fines duties of alcaldes in Spanish
colonies, 329
Red Cross Shop, II, 15
Redick, John L., I, 400
Redlands Company, I, 396
Reed, John. I, 64
Reeve, Sidney N., II, 113
1 ' Reform of the New Testament
Church," by William Money (1854),
Reglamento (California's first code
of laws), I, 26
Reid, George E., II, 369
Reid, Wallace, III, 796
Reid, William W., Ill, 796
Reorganized Church of Latter Day
Saints (Mormon), I, 316
Resa, Andrew, II, 166
Requena, Manuel, I, 242
Reyes, Francisco, I, 149
Revnolds, S. F., I, 362
Reynolds, Thomas S., II, 72
Rhoades, Nelson O., II, 337
Rhodes, Allin L., Ill, 629
Rhodes, Joseph F., Ill, 574
Rice, George, I, 37, 152
Rice, Paran F., Ill, 643
Richardt, Theophilus, II, 99
Richardson, Solomon, I, 89
Richardson, W. A., I, 37
Richardson, William H., Ill, 523
Riddle, Adeline, II, 209
Riddle, Julia, II, 209
Riley, Bennett, I, 66
Rios, Joaquin de los Rios y, I, 360
Rittersbaeher, Charles, II, 93
Rittersbaeher, Laura K., II, 94
Rivera, I, 89
Riverside County, iron deposits in, I,
398
Roads: Passenger road opened be-
tween San Pedro harbor and Los
Angeles (1849), I, 93; great stage
lines and express, with Los Angeles
as station (early 50 's), 99
Robertson, Mrs. Matthew S., Ill, 885
Robinson, Alfred, I, 193
Robinson, Charles M., I, 142
Robinson, Henry M., Ill, 901
Robinson, Joseph E., II, 347
Robinson, Mrs. M. Hennion, III, 804
Robinson, Clare, III, 691
Rodman, Willoughby, I, 325
Rodriguez, Pablo, I, 30
Roger, Wilfred, I, 384
Rogers, Robert I., Ill, 571
Rohe, Clifford A., II, 410
Rojo, Manuel C, I, 361; sketch of, 363
Poland, Fred, I, 37
Roland, John, I, 74. 189
Roland, W. R., I, 365'
Rolfe, H. C, I, 72
Roman, John, III, 446
Roman Catholic Churches: diocese of
California created by Gregory XVI,
I, 295; Bishop Diego journeys to
Santa Barbara, his episcopal resi-
dence, 302; contest with Governor
Pico over secularization of missions,
303: Upper California erected into
a diocese with Santa Barbara as
episcopal city, 305 ; diocese of Mon-
terey, 305
Romero, Dona Guadalupe, I, 69
Roodhouse, Robert, III, 548
Rosas, Alejandro, I, 30
Rosas, Basilio, I, 30
Rose, Andrew H., II, 341
Rose, L. J., I, 89, 111, 116
Rose, (L. J.) place, (Sunny Slope), I,
Rose, W. H.. I, 243
Rosenberg. Carl E., Ill, 878
Ross, E. M.. I, 85, 345
Ross, Ida H., II, 80
Ross, N. A., Ill, 447
Rossiter, John G., II, 322
Rossetti. Victor H.. II, 179
Rothwell, Walter H., I, 381
Rowan, George D., II, 304
Rowan, Robert A., II, 152
Rowan, T. E., I, 365
Rowland, Charlotte M., II, 77
Row'and, John, I, 64; III, 924
Rowland, William R., Ill, 925
Rowlev, Edwin S., II, 90
Rowntree, John T., II, 266
Rubottom, William, I, 71
Rush, Judson R., II, 50
Russell, John N., Jr., II, 420
Rvan,- Andrew. I, 365
Ryan, M., I, 365
Sabichi, Frank, II, 312
Sabichi, G. Carlos, III, 848
Snl.iohi, William W., II, 314
Sackett, Russell, I, 361
Sacred Heart Academy, II, 416
Safford, George S., Ill', 614
Saflford, Mae C, III, 615
Salandie, Madame, I, 183
Salazar, Jose, I, 165
Salt Lake Railroad, I, 134
San Antonio de Padua, I, 13
San Antonio Light and Power Com-
pany, I, 396
San Bernardino County; source of
poultry and dairy supplies (1853),
I. 96 *
San Bueno Ventura, I, 13
San Carlos Mission (Monterey), I, 13
San Diego: Founded, I, 13, i34, 155;
established as episcopal city by
Gregory XVI (1840), 297; "insig-
nificant town" (1841), 301, 302
Sau Diego Bay: Fray Junipero Serra
arrives at, I, 10, 203
San Fernando Faun Association, I,
109
San Fernando Rancho, great wheat
farm, now part of Los Angeles, I,
109
San Fernando tunnel, I, 80, 233
San Gabriel, Mother of Los Angeles,
I, 12, 14; mission founded (Septem-
ber, 1771), near site of present, 15;
Palou's account of its founding, 16;
Queen of the Missions, 18; its indus-
trial and normal schools, center of
hospitality, 19; founders of Los An-
geles issue from, 31; in 1875, 89, 228
San Gabriel Vineyard, I, 190
San Joaquin Light & Power Corpora-
tion, II, 320
San Jose (pueblo) founded, I, 11
San Juan de Arguello (pueblo), I, 361
San Pascual, I, 164, 177
San Pedro: Harbor first viewed by
white men, I, 4; as whaler's fitting-
out post, 106; or San Miguel, 204
San Pedro Harbor, I, 38; closed by
Mexican government, (1828), 40,
02; in 1875, 80; first steamer into
(1849), 93; government first im-
proves (1871), 111; becomes (offi-
cially) Los Angeles Harbor, 143;
first known American ship to arrive
at, 149; trading vessels of, 183;
first steamers to, 184; port of Los
Angeles, 204; described in 1835, 205
San Rafael Rancho (Glendale), I, 90,
148
Sanchez, Mattias, I, 117
Sanchez, Thomas A., I, 365
Sanford, W. T. B., I, 242
Sanitary inspectors created, I, 291
Sansevaine, Jean L., I, 71, 190
Santa Anita Rancho, I, 116
Santa Barbara, receives new Catholic
bishop of the Californias, I, 302
Santa Catalina Island, center of early
Yankee trade, I, 58, 111, 129, 205
Santa Fe Railroad: Enters Los An-
geles (1885), I, 123; branch from
Los Angeles to San Diego completed
(1891), 134
Santa Monica, I, 111, 138, 208
Santa Monica bay, described in 1542,
I, 6
Sargent, Edwin W., II, 177
Sartori, Joseph F., II, 31
Saunders, J. H., I, 362
XXV
Sawyer School of Secretaries, The, II,
209
Saxon, Thomas A., I, 365
Scarborough, James G., II, 415
Scarborough, William B., II, 355
Schenck, Paul W., Ill, 577
Schertzinger, Victor L., Ill, 867
Schmidt, Edward, II, 412
School Libraries, I, 258
Schumacher, John, I, 185
Schumacher, John J., II, 366
Schwartz, Hyman, II, 262
Scott, Jonathan R., sketch of, I, 361
Scott, Joseph, I, 245; III, 783
Scott, Ralph J., II, 359
Scott, William B., Ill, 872
Scott, Winfield, I, 314
Searles, Moses, I, 273
Seaver, Everett H., II, 217
Seco, Arroyo, I, 87 ■
Second Dragoons, Fort Tejon, I, 72
Sellers, Edgar E., II, 263
Sentous, L,ouis, Jr., II, 103
Sepulveda, Andronico E., I, 365
Sepulveda, Diego, I, 160
Sepulveda, Fernando, I, 189
Sepulveda, Ignacio, I, 364; sketch of,
365
Sepulveda, Jose Andras, I, 60, 74
Sepulveda, Jose Diego, III, 936
Sepulveda, Maria F., Ill, 936
Sepulveda, Ygnacio, I, 77, 85
Sepulveda family, I, 58
Serra, Fray Junipero, arrives at San
Diego Bay (July 1, 1769), I, 10;
death of, 15; names San Francisco,
203, 226, 228, 265, 383
Serrano, Jose, I, 190
Seventh Dav Adventists, I, 316
Severance, T. E., I, 315
Sewer system established, I, 291
Seyler, Charles, Jr., II, 111
Seyler, Charles, Sr., II, 111
Shatto, Clara R., I, 373
Shawn, Ted, III, 861
Shenk, John W., Ill, 788
Sherer, Albert J., Ill, 606
Sherer, Edward T., II, 401
Sherman, M. H., I, 138
Sherman, Moses H., Ill, 649
Shiels, Albert, I, 255; II, 273
Shinn, Charles H., I, 58
Shirley, Ira W., II, 382
Shirley, Nellie B., II, 383
Shoestring Strip annexed to the City
(1909), I, 142
Shontz, Orfa J., Ill, 691
Shorb Ranch, I, 89
Shore, John W., I, 364
Shore, William, I, 311
Shore, William H., I, 309, 310
Shoults, Tracy E., Ill, 9.27
Shoup, Paul, III, 562
Shubrick, W. Branford, I, 179
Sims, C, I, 309
Simpson, Frank, III, 795
Sinclair, John, III, 568
Sinclair, Martha R., Ill, 568
Sirova, Jose Francisco, I, 148
Sisters of Charity, I, 100
Sisters of Mercy, III, 623
Sixth Judicial Circuit of the Mexican
Republic, I, 334
Slauson, Jonathan S., I, 80, 245
Slauson, Sarah R., Ill, 819
Sloan-Oreutt, Leafie, I, 375
Slusher, Margaret F., II, 146
Smallman, John, I, 379
Smallpox epidemics, I, 106, 289
Smith, A. J., I, 163
Smith, Clarence F., Ill, 584
Smith, George H., I, 344
Smith, Harry B., Ill, 937
Smith, Jedediah S., I, 63, 65
Smith, Laura G., I, 238
Smith, Oscar C, II, 355
Smith, Spencer II., Ill, 726
Smith, Thomas H., I, 345
Smith. W. J. A., I, 315
Smith-Hughes Act, I, 247, 253, 259
Smithers, A. C, I, 315
Smurr, Charles R., II, 427
Snooks, Joseph, I, 70
Snyder, Edward R,, II, 158
Snyder, Meredith P., II, 394
Social life: Hospitality of old Cali-
-fornians, I, 46; -old Californians
temperate, 51 ; filial reverence, 54;
customs of women in olden times,
55; entertainments of the '50s, 79;
the "Fandango," 98; horse racing,
166; marriages between Catholics
and Protestants, 303
Soler, Pablo, I, 267
Solomon, Fred H., Ill, 595
Somera, Angel, I, 14
Sonoratown, I, 94
South Park, I, 373
South Pasadena, a sheep pasture in
1875, I, 89
Southern Branch of the State Univer-
sity, I, 263
Southern California, worst rain in
(1859), I, 102; its sheep industry
devastated, 118; its "Big Boom,"
125; described by Charles Dudley
Warner as "Our Italy," 135; bene-
fits of its climate to invalids, 268-
71
Southern California Edison Company,
II, 256
Southern California Gas Company, II,
XXVI
INDEX
Southern California Power Company,
I, 396
Southern California products exhibit,
I, 391
Southern District Agricultural So-
ciety, I, 111
Southern Pacific Railroad, status of,
in 1875, I, 80; extension of (1872),
112; San Fernando tunnel of, com-
pleted (1876), 118; through service
inaugurated (1887), 132; adjusts
rates favoring Los Angeles (1910-
12), 140
Southwest Society of the Archaeolog-
ical Institute of America, I, 140
Southwestern University, II, 366
Spanish-American War 1, 139
Spellacy, Timothy, II, 88
Spence, E. F., I, 91, 116
Spence, E. M., I, 365
Spencer. Charles H., Ill, 627
Spill, William A., II, 403
Spires, Joseph H., II, 340
.Spires, Mary H., II. 34]
Springer. Isaac, III, 562
Sproul, Joseph P., Ill, 564
Stage and freight lines, I, 184
Stagg, Raymond M., IT, 71
Standard Oil Company, I, 212
Stanford, Leland, I, 113
Stanley, Mme. Coman, III, 678
Stanton, Edwin M., I, 342
Stanton, Philip A., II, 112
Stearns, Abel, I, 70, 74; sketch of,
66, 101, 151, 152; his sumptuous
home ("Palace of Don Abel
Stearns"), 154, 183, 189, 193, 196,
200, 241, 361
Steckel, George, III, 876
Steindorff, Paul, I, 379
Stephens, William D., Ill, 710
Stern, Jacob, III, 528
Stern Realty Company, III, 528
Stevenson, Jonathan D., I, 163; leaves
for San Francisco, 167; investigates
land grants in military district
(1847), 343
Stevenson, Matthew R., I, 163
Stevenson, Walter R., Ill, 544
Stockton, Robert F. (Commodore), ar-
rives at San Pedro, I, 155; takes
possession of Los Angeles and de-
clares California U. S. Territory,
156; sketch of, 167, 179
Stockton, William M., I, 190
Stockton fire of 1851, I, 73
Stone, Duke, II, 242
Stoneman, G., I, 89
Story, Walter P., Ill, 630
Stra*ssberger, Carl C, III, 557
Street car lines: First in Los Angeles
(1874), I, 90, 114; first cable and
electric (1884-85), 123; consolidation
of various systems (1888-91), 132;
electric interurban car system of
Los Angeles, 138; development of
Huntington interurban electric sys-
tems, 140
Strode, C. B., I, 362
Strong, Frank R., Ill, 608
Strother, William M., II, 285
Strover, William, II, 344
Stump. J. H., T, 319
St. Athanasius (St. Paul's) Church.
I, 311, 319
St. Charles Hotel, I, 82
St. Denis, Ruth, III, 861
St. Joseph's Catholic Parish, II, 97
St. Luke's Parish, I, 311
St. Paul's Church. I, 311
St. Thomas The Apostle Church, II.
149
St. Vincent's College, II, 183
Sullivan, Anna C, II, 42
Sullivan, Dennis, II, 42
Sullivan, John E., HI, 444
Summerfield, John W., Ill, 499
Summerland. Estelle, III. 811
Summerland. Theodore, III, 810
Sumner, Edwin V., I, 104
Sunny Slope, I, 191
Superintendents of schools; changes
in modes of selection, 1853-81, I. 245
Superior Court (Mexican system), 1.
336
Supreme Court of California draws
distinction between pueblos and
American municipalities. I, 339
Supreme Court of the United States:
On difficulty of locating Mexican
land grants, I, 341
Sutherland, Byron C, III, 644
Sutherland, Thomas W., I, 364 ,
Sycamore Grove, I, 373
Taft, Frederick H., II, 253
Taft, Stephen H., II, 251
Talbot, J. J., I, 319; pitiful victim of
drink, 320
Talmadge, Margaret, III, 744
Tatlow, Joseph B., II, 429
Tatum, C. C. C, II, 306
Tatum, Frank D., Ill, 613
Tavlor, Frank W., Ill, 569
Taylor, June R„ II. 168
Taylor, Minnie C, III, 569
Taylor, Nelson, I, 163
Tebbetts, Francis W., Ill, 696
Tebbetts, Hiram W., Ill, 695
Telegraphic communication between
Los Angeles and San Francisco
(1860), I, 104
Temple Block, I, 80, 193
Temple estate, I, 95
Franc-is P. F., I, 305; III,
917
Temple, Jonathan, III, 916
Temple, John, I, 37, 71, 74, 152, 182,
183, 187, 189
Temple, John H., Ill, 919
Temple, T. P. F., I, 91
Temple & Workman bank, failure of
(1875), I, 90, 91, 117
Tesehemaker, H. F., I, 71
Teter, Harry E., II, 127
Thalhammer, Karl W., II, 334
"The Higher Christian Life," by W.
E. Boardman, I, 319
Thee, E. J., Ill, 725
Thorn, Cameron E., I, 86, 305, 366
Thorn Block, I, 86
Thomas, Theodore, I, 379
Thompson, Ira F., II, 400
Thomson, David M., II, 135
Thome, Edwin C, II, 241
Thornton, Harry. I, 366
Thornton, Tom C, II, 191
Thorpe, Helena B., II, 67
Thorpe, Spencer R., II, 60
Tibbetts, L. C, I, 113
Tidings, The, II, 222
Times building dynamited, with great
loss of life (October 1, 1910), T,
142
Titeomb, H. B., II, 54
Titus Ranch (Dew Drop). I, 89
Tivoli, San Francisco, I, 380
Toberman, Charles E., II, 409
Toland, Thomas O., Ill, 910
Toll, Charles H., II, 148
Tomlinson, J. J., I, 184
Tompkins, P. W., I, 362
Tonner, P. C, I, 243
Tononi, Isabel R., 331
Tononi, Giacomo, II, 331
Toplitzky, Joseph, III, 886
Torres, Francisco, I, 360
Townsend, James R., Ill, 503
Trafford, John, I, 365
Treble Clef Club, I, 379
Turner, George H, III, 763
Turner, Joel, I, 109
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, I, 167,
342
"Two Years Before the Mast," bv
Richard Henry Dana (1835), I, 205
Union Oil Company, I, 212
United States Hotel, I, 83
Universal City, III, 791
University of Southern California (see
also Methodist College), I, lis
Upham & Rea, I, 82
Urban Military School, III, 629
Valdez, Antonio, I, 69
Valdez, Lucian, I, 238
\ r:l-Iez fai-.iilv I 189
Valentine, Louis H., II, 419
Valentine, William L., II, 165
Vance, Arlyn T., Ill, 813
Vance, Champ S., Ill, 012
Vance, Jessica S., II, 199
Van de Kamp, Theodore J., II, 348
Vanegas, Jose, first mayor of Los An-
geles, I, 30, 34, 147," 148
Van Loan, Charles E., Ill, 097
Van Nuys, I. N., I, 89, 109, 118
Vasquez, Tiburcio, noted bandit. I,
113; hanged. 114
Veitch, Arthur L., II, 214
Vejar, Ricardo, I, 74, 189
Verdugo, .lose Maria, I, 148
Verdugo, Manuel, I, 301
Victoria, Emanuel, I, 42, 151
Vignes, Louis, first orange planter of
Los Angeles, T, 70, 175, 189, L90
Vilavieencio, Antonio (Felix), I, 30
Viscano, Sebastian, I, 204
Vocational training, I, 259, 200, 201
Volunteer Fire Company organized
(1873), I, 113
Vordermark, John F., IT, 188
Vosburg, Kate, III, 819
Wade. Charles J., IT, 227
Wade, Franklin S., II, 228
Wagner, Charles D., II, 413
Walker, George W., II, 121
Walker, Mrs. Horatio, dr., Ill, 020
Walker, Lillian, III, 929
Wallace, Albert J., II, 240
Wallace, Ernest L., IT, 337
Walton, Charles S., I, 379
War Industries Board, Chamber of
Commerce, I, 390
Warde, Frederick, I, 384
Warde, Marion, III, 637
Warner, Charles D., I, 135
Warner, J. J., I, 02, 65
Washburn, Bryant, III, 870
Washburn, Franklin B., Ill, 870
Washburn, W. J., I, 245
Water supply: Irrigating and domes-
tie (1854), I, 97; first distributing
"system" in Los Angeles (1805),
107; first iron pipes laid and city
"water works" leased (1868), 108;
irrigation system reconstructed by
American alcalde, 165; first water-
way in Mission Valley, 226; predica-
ment of Los Angeles in 1905, 228;
Fred Eaton suggests Owens River as
source of, 229
Waterman, J. M., II, 243
Waters, Arthur J., II, 25
Waters, Frank A., Ill, 714
Waters, Russell J., II, 22
Watson, Harry W., Ill, 551
INDEX
Watson, James A., I, 362; sketch of,
363
Watson, Joseph E., Ill, 725
Watson, Mabel, III, 902
Watson, Samuel H., Ill, 549
Weaver, Sylvester L., Ill, 573
Weber, Lois, III, 883
Weeks, Henry, I, 242
Weik, Fred G., Ill, 635
Weil, Julius B., Ill, 565
Welch, William, I, 37
Weller, Dana E., II, 417
Wells, Arthur G., II, 259
Wells, A. J., I, 320
Wells, Fargo & Company, I, 97
West Sixth Street highway of trade
(1868), I, 109
Westlake Military School, II, 344
Westlake Park, I, 107, 373
Westlake School for Girls, The, II,
198
Wetherby, F. Bruce, III, 621
Wharton, L. R., II, 418
Wheeler, Alfred, I, 366
Wheeler, Fred C, II, 387
Wheeler, J. 0., I, 284
Wheeler & Johnson, I, 199, 200
Wheeler & Morgan, I, 185
Whitaker, Melville T., II, 105
White, A. F., I, 320
White, Charles H., Ill, 736
White, F. A., I, 310
White, Stephen M., sketch of, I, 116,
White, T. J., I, 281, 311
White, Thomas P., II, 268
Whitley, H. J., Ill, 814
Wickersham, Frederick A., II, 237-
Widney, Erwin W., II, 65
Widnev, J. P., I, 62, 268
Widney, R. M., I, 90, 364
Wiggin, Kate Douglas, I, 246
Wiggins, Frank, Secretary Chamber of
Commerce, I, 391; II,' 71
Wilbur, Elizabeth A., Ill, 467
Wildey, Otto G., Ill, 620
Wilhart, Louis, I, 190
Willard, Charles, I, 407
Willard, Raymond EC, III, 458
Willebrandt, Mabel W., II, 78
Williams, Blanche, III, 804
Williams, Camillus J., II, 303
Williams, Charles N., Ill, 599
Williams, G. Edwin, II, 407
Williams, Isaac, I, 65, 74
Williams, Philip, II, 133
Williams, Warren L., II, 281
Williams-Dhnond Line, I, 212
Wills, J. T., I, 320
Wilmington (New San Pedro), I, 101;
as whalers' fitting-out post, 106, 111,
112, 208; Federal and railroad im-
provements at, 209
Wilson, Benjamin D., I, 64, 89, 154,
183, 185, 310, 319, 360, 364; II, 389
Wilson, Emmett H., I, 245
Wilson, George J., II, 222
Wilson, Grace, III, 778
Wilson, John K., Ill, 707
Wilson and Packard, I, 184
Wine of the country ' ' delicious, ' ' I,
175
Winnett, P. G., Ill, 603
Winsel, Charles F. J., Ill, 651
Winston, James B., I, 281
Winston home, I, 89
Wireless telegraph communication es-
tablished (1911), I, 143
Witherby, Oliver S., I, 364
Wolfelt, C. H., II, 247
Wolfskill, John, I, 74
Wolfskill, John R,, III, 851
Wolfskill, William, I, 63, 70, 71, 74,
189, 193; III, 849
Wood, Carolyne, III, 838
Woode, Piche, III, 852
Woodford, Asa W., Ill, 638
Woodford, Gregory S., Ill, 640
Woodlev, Frank E., II, 298
Woods,' D. W., II, 339
Woods, James, I, 310, 318
Woodward, Agnes, III, 539
Wool boom of 1871-72, I, 112
Woollacott, A. H., II, 329
Woolwine, Clare, III, 790
Woolwine, Thomas L., Ill, 708
Workman, Boyle, II, 8
Workman, William, I, 64, 154, 189;
III, 921
Workman, William H., I, 83, 135, 372,
400; II, 3
Workman, William H., Jr., II, 137
Works, Lewis R., II, 335
World War, public school work in, I,
255-258
Wright, Gilbert S., II, 40
Wyatt, W. T., I, 386
Yarnall, George S., II, 199
Yarnell, B. F., Ill, 696
Yarnell, Esther, II, 409
Yarnell, Jesse, II, 408
Yarnell, Laura A. G., Ill, 696
Yarrow (old "Cuarto Ojos" or Four
Eyes), I, 197
Yorba, Bernardo, I, 74, 189
Yorba, Jose Antonio, I, 165
Yorba, Teodosio, I, 189
York, M. Jessie, III, 739
York, Waldo M., Ill, 740
Youle, William E., II, 47
Young, Clara Kimball, III, 830
INDEX jc
Young, Edward R., in, 443 Zanja Madre (mother ditch), I, 97
Young, Ewing, I, 63, 65 Zanjas (open ditches), I, 97
Young, John D., I, 365 Zoellner, Helena S., Ill, 829
Youngworth, Leo V., II, 288 Zoellner Quartet, III, 828
Yutahs, uprisings of, I, 71
Los Angeles
From the Mountains to the Sea
CHAPTER I
AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING
It would seem that Los Angeles has been a habitation of
man as long as any other place on the earth has been a dwell-
ing place for human beings. After the envelope of water in
which the earth was originally enclosed had evaporated and
dry land appeared, and the animal kingdom came into exist-
ence, it seems as likely as not that man appeared in the place
where Los Angeles is now quite as early as he appeared any-
where else.
This, of course, is mere theory, but as far as that is con-
cerned, all the rest of it is nothing more than theory.
Remains of prehistoric beasts like the saber-toothed tiger
have been found in the asphaltum beds of Los Angeles show-
ing inclusively the existence of life here at a time that must
have been contemporaneous with life in other parts of the
world at the dawn of the world.
We have, however, no record of human existence here until
the first white men came to California and that was a long
time ago, too, as far as history is reckoned in America. It was
only fifty years after the discovery of America by Columbus
that California was discovered. This was in the year 1542,
when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese sailor, voyag-
ing in Spanish ships and under the flag of Spain, sailed up
from Natividad in Old Mexico and steered the prows of his
daring little fleet of galleons into the harbor of San Diego.
And since now Los Angeles has come to be in many ways
Vol. I— i i
2 LOS ANGELES
the first city of California — being certainly the first city as
far as population is concerned — and since California, although
one of the states of the Union only, is at the same time a
distinct and separate country of itself, made so by the fact
that it has a distinct entity geographically, climatically and in
a thousand other ways, it is essential in telling the story of
Los Angeles to begin by telling briefly the greater story of
California itself. For it helps to make a story not only easier
to understand, but vastly more interesting, if we shall begin
at the beginning as every good story must do.
Now, when Cabrillo and the first white men found Califor-
nia, nearly 500 years ago — and that's a long, long time — they
found the country inhabited by a native race of Indians who
had villages of their own up and down the coast and far back
in the mountains, and where they lived in separate clans and
families. The Spaniards called these villages " rancherias. "
The whole race may be regarded as having been like one
tribe because they were exactly alike everywhere in appear-
ance and in their mode of living. But there was one very
strange thing about them, and this was that when separated
at distances of sometimes not more than twenty miles apart,
they spoke an entirely different language, the one from the
other. For instance, the natives at San Diego were not able
to converse in words with the Indians at San Juan Capistrano,
nor were the Indians at San Juan Capistrano able to converse
with the Indians of San Gabriel. And so it went throughout
all California from one end of it to the other. There were
Indians on Santa Catalina and other islands off the coast,
but when brought to the mainland they did not understand
one word that other Indians spoke. It has been stated on
authority that more than two-thirds of all the Indian lan-
guages spoken within the present borders of the United States
were found in California.
The California Indian differed in many other ways from
the other Indians of America. The admiration universally
accorded the great Algonquin family on the Atlantic seaboard
and to the great war-like tribes of the western plains, does not
seem to have had serious application here. The California
Indian was not much of a man to admire. He was lazy, stu-
4 LOS ANGELES
pid and exceedingly careless of his morals. He did not take
trouble to build for himself any kind of shelter worthy of the
name of a house, and, consequently, he was a man who had no
conception of the meaning of home. He toiled not, neither
did he spin. He was without modesty, he had no traditions ;
neither knowing nor caring from whence he had come nor
whither he might drift.
But perhaps we can consistently make excuses for him.
Why should he go to the wholly unnecessary trouble to work
when everything that he needed had been furnished to his
hand by Nature's bounty? His country teemed with wild
game and with wild fruits and honey. If he were hungry he
had but to reach out his hand for endless food of almost
every description that was everywhere around him. And why
should he take also the unnecessary trouble to clothe himself
when there were always places where the sun shone warm
and he could be comfortable without clothing! In other words,
California was an Indian paradise as it is now a paradise on
earth for the white man.
Cabrillo, the Discoverer, was the first white man to visit
Los Angeles. After he had spent a happy six days in San
Diego and was loath to leave it as everybody is, even to this
day, he felt, evidently, that he must be on his way to do the
work that was cut out for him, and so he sailed into the harbor
of San P»dro, which is now a part of the City of Los Angeles.
This w«.f on the 28th day of September in the year of our
Lord 1M2- almost exactly 377 years before the day that these
words we*"** written for this book.
It is fascinating to know what impression the harbor of
Los Angelas made on the first white man who ever saw it, if
we are to depend on the historic records, and in order to know
what that impression was, we can do nothing better than to
turn back to the Log Book of old Juan Bodriguez and read
what was there written at the time. This is what it says :
"The Thursday following they proceeded about six
leagues, [This was after they had left San Diego] by a coast
running northwest and discovered a port enclosed and very
good, to which they gave the name of San Miguel. [This was
the Bay of San Pedro.] It is in 34 1/3 degrees, and after an-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 5
choring in it they went on shore. It had people, three of whom
remained and all others fled. To these they gave some pres-
ents, and they said by signs that in the interior had passed
people like the Spaniards. They manifested much fear.
"This same day at night they went on shore from the ships
to fish with a net ; and it appears that there were here some
Indians, and they began to discharge arrows and wounded
three men.
' ' The next day in the morning they entered further within
the port, which is large, with a boat and brought out two boys
who understood nothing but signs; and they gave them both
shirts and immediately sent them away.
"And in the following day in the morning there came to
the ship three large Indians ; and by signs they said that there
were travelling in the interior, men like us, with beards, and
clothed and armed like those of the ships, and they made
signs that they carried cross bows and swords, and made
gestures with the right arm as if they were throwing lances,
and went running in a posture as if riding on horseback, and
made signs that they killed many of the native Indians and
that for this they were afraid. This people are well-disposed
and advanced ; they go covered with the skins of animals. Be-
ing in this boat there passed a very great tempest; but on
account of the port's being good they suffered nothing. It
was a violent storm from the southwest. This is the first
storm which they have experienced. They were in this port
until the following Tuesday.
' ' The following Tuesday on the third day of the month of
October, they departed from this port of San Miguel; and
Wednesday and Thursday and Friday, they proceeded on
their course about eighteen leagues, fifty-four miles along the
coast, on which they saw many valleys, and level ground and
many large smokes, and, in the interior, Sierras. They were
at dusk near some islands which are about seven leagues from
the main land ; and because the wind was becalmed they could
not reach them this night,
' ' Saturday, the seventh day of the month of October, they
arrived at the island at day break which they named San Sal-
vador [San Clemente], La Vittoria [Santa Catalina] ; and
6 LOS ANGELES
they anchored off one of them and they went with the boat on
shore to see if there were people there ; and as the boat came
near, there issued a great quantity of Indians from among
the bushes and grass, yelling and dancing and making signs
that they should come ashore. And they saw that the women
were running away; and from the boats they made signs
that they should have no fear ; and immediately they assumed
confidence and laid on the ground their bows and arrows, and
they launched a canoe in the water which held eight or ten
Indians and they came to the ships. They gave them beads
and little presents, with which they were delighted and they
presently went away. The Spaniards afterwards went ashore
and were very secure, they and the Indian women and all,
where an old Indian made signs to them that on the main land,
men were journeying clothed and with beards like the Span-
iards. They were in this island only until noon.
"The following Sunday on the eighth of the said month,
they came near the main land in a great bay which they
named La Bahia de Los Fumos [Santa Monica Bay] on ac-
count of the numerous smokes which they saw upon it, where
they held intercourse with some Indians whom they took in a
canoe, who made signs that towards the north there were
Spaniards like them. This bay is in 35 degrees ; and it is a
good port; and the country is good with many valleys and
plains and trees. ' '
There is one thing more than another, perhaps, that will
strike the reader of Cabrillo 's Log in these centuries so long
after it was written, and that is to wonder who these white
men could have been that were here before Cabrillo. The
most popular theory is that the Indians in the interior of the
country, probably as far inland as Arizona and New Mexico,
and who saw Coronado and his expedition in that part of the
world two years before Cabrillo 's discovery of California,
passed the word along across the Colorado and over the
mountains and the deserts to the Indians here on the coast,
that they had seen white men.
There isn 't the slightest probability, however, that the In-
dians here ever themselves saw white men until they saw
the people of Cabrillo 's daring enterprise. And following the
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 7
theory up, it is easy to suppose that word would have come
over vast distances among the Indian tribes concerning the
appearance of Coronado and his men in the interior. It is
true that there were no newspapers in those days and no tel-
egraph lines, not to speak of the wireless telegraph, there were
no aeroplanes or telephones or any other modern vehicle for
the swift and even instantaneous conveyance of news, but it
is astonishing how rapidly news traveled in those times, just
the same, among the Indian peoples.
The same is true among them to this day. Let a man ap-
pear for any special reason among the Indians of Soboba, and
the next day, or in two or three days at most, his presence
will become known in some magic way among all the Indian
peoples of the reservations of Southern California. Even
will it be known among the lonely huts of Laguna in the far
silences of the Cuyamacas.
And certainly this wonderful old swash-buckling explorer
Francisco Vasquez Coronado must have made a vivid impres-
sion on the primitive mind of the territory that he covered.
When he set out from Old Mexico in 1540, he had with him
200 mounted lancers in armor and 1,000 mounted horse-
men in all, which was a very respectable force to be assem-
bled under similar circumstances in any age of the world.
The commander himself and his officers and their mounts were
gorgeous with gay trappings. They had golden swords and
silken banners; their advance was heralded with a blare of
trumpets.
It was to find the famous fabled seven golden cities of
Cibola that Coronado and his men had set out from Mexico.
It seems assured that they traveled as far north as the center
of our present State of Kansas, and that they came over into
New Mexico, where they found that the much-vaunted seven
cities of gold were nothing more than the pueblos of the Zunis,
and after all they found their quest to be a failure. There is
no doubt that the country was considerably stirred up by this
wonderful pageant that passed through it, and was not long
until every aborigine within a radius of 1,000 miles and more
had been told the news of it.
All this record of historv and recital of tradition is here
8 LOS ANGELES
recalled only for what it may be worth, and mainly for the
reason to fix in the reader's mind the established fact that the
real discoverer of California w T as Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo,
and that to him and to him alone the credit belongs.
Another thing that impresses one in reading Cabrillo 's
Log, is that he mentions the fact that here were many trees
in this part of the world in the early times. Southern Cali-
fornia is so invariably referred to by writers as a "treeless
land" that the impression has gone abroad that it was always
a treeless land. But we see from the absolutely reliable re-
port of Cabrillo that it was a land of many trees, indeed, when
the white men first saw it. It is difficult to imagine that the
country around San Pedro and Point Loma at San Diego
were once covered with dense forests, but such is undoubt-
edly the fact, and the task before the people of Southern Cal-
ifornia now is to restore these forests, especially on the moun-
tain slopes. For, if they shall fail to do this, all that they have
builded through a century past — their cities and towns, their
farms, their orchards — are at the mercy of flood and storm
that may some day bury them as deep under the mud and
sands of oblivion as Babylon was buried.
The one last thing concerning Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
that fascinates the mind now is that it seems to have been
ordained by Providence that he should never leave the bright
new land which he was the first of all the civilized men of the
earth to see. When doubling back from Cape Mendocino to
which he had sailed, in order that he might seek again the
shelter of the Santa Barbara channel, the great admiral fell
sick of a fever and died. His sailors buried him on the sunny
little isle of San Miguel, where still he sleeps reckless of wind
and wave and tide — the immortal Portuguese who was first to
find the land of heart's desire.
Cabrillo 's expedition continued north again after his
death, probably sailing as far as the present southern line
of Oregon. But it then returned to Old Mexico without having
achieved anything more than to have proclaimed to the world
the actual existence of the long-dreamed of and storied land of
endless summers. But this was surely achievement enough.
Sixty years passed before white men came again to California,
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 9
and again they came merely to explore the coast and to return,
and it was not until 227 years after the discovery had passed
that any attempt was made to settle and to colonize the
country.
And it was 239 years after the discovery of California that
Los Angeles, now one of the wonder cities of the world, was
founded.
This brings us to another story — one of the greatest of
all the stories ever told — the story of how the white man's
religion and civilization were brought to a heathen land and
there rooted never to wither or die. It is a story which enfolds
in its wondrous glamour Los Angeles and all the country that
lies on either side of it between the mountains and the sea.
The fateful year of 1769 must remain forever immortal
in the annals of California. It was the year in which Califor-
nia began, when civilization was planted upon its shores,
when the cross of Christianity, symbol of the Religion of Re-
demption, was reared in its sunny valleys and upon its shining
mountain tops. And it is also then that we first hear of the
renowned and venerable Fray Junipero Serra, the great Fran-
ciscan who laid the corner stones of our commonwealth and
by whose hands was erected the fabric of our Empire of the
Sun. There can never be anything written or anything said
that has to do with California and it glamorous history with-
out the inclusion of the name of this most remarkable and
wonderful man.
Spain waited a long time indeed — more than two centuries
and a quarter — to take full advantage of its wonderful pos-
sessions on the western shores of Northern America. But it
is plain, for all that, that Spain never held lightly in its esti-
mation California's worth. It is perhaps only because the
throne of Castile and Leon was so tremendously engaged with
the stupendous task of exploiting the new half of the earth
that had fallen into its hands that it waited so long to col-
onize California, which, as we now know, was the brightest
jewel in its crown. But, however it may be, the fact remains
that it was not until full 227 years had passed that the Spanish
king decided to add California to the civilized possessions of
the world.
10 LOS ANGELES
It is a long story if we were to tell all that led up to the
expedition of 1769 which brought Fray Junipero Serra and
his brown-robed Franciscan companions to the shores of the
Bay of San Diego, where they arrived on the first day of July
of that forever memorable year. Suffice it to say that the
intent and purpose of this expedition was to accomplish at
one stroke the Christianization of the native Indians and to
colonize California as a Spanish province.
The plan that Spain had in mind was a three-fold plan,
namely, that missions should be established in which the na-
tives were to be instructed and trained in the Christian re-
Typical, Old Spanish Mission
ligion and taught to do a white man's work; second, that
presidios or garrisons were to be established throughout the
length of California in order not only that the missions might
be under military protection but also that the country itself
might be in a condition to repel probable foreign invasion, and
third, that pueblos were to be founded in favorable places so
that an urban population might be established to co-operate
with the vast agricultural interests planned.
It was a wise and far-sighted plan in every way, and it
was carried out to a great extent, especially as regarded the
missions. The agricultural scheme also made wide progress.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 11
The only feature of the three-fold plan that materialized un-
importantly was the scheme of the pueblos. All told, only
three of these pueblos were ever founded, as follows : one at
Branciforte, which was founded where the present City of
Santa Cruz stands. Not a trace of Branciforte remains.
Another pueblo was founded and named San Jose in honor
of Saint Joseph, the patron saint of California. It still exists
and flourishes as the present beautiful and important city of
San Jose in the white-blossomed valley of Santa Clara. The
third and last of the pueblos — the one that at first was the
least hopeful and that remained the longest the most squalid,
the least promising of all — was our present great City of Los
Angeles.
Los Angeles was therefore a pre-ordained city. It is not
a city that just happened. It was founded by order of the
king with both military and religious pomp with the swing-
ing of censors and the burning of incense and the stately
music of the Te Deum.
And they named it in the music of Castilian speech "El
Pueblo La Senora de la Beina Los Angeles. ' ' It means the
"City of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels."
CHAPTER II
THE MOTHER OF LOS ANGELES
It is to be reasonably supposed that in the same way and
from the same desire that a man would like to know every-
thing possible concerning his own mother, a city that had a
mother would also wish to be informed concerning her. Well,
the mother of Los Angeles was San Gabriel. And now, at
the outset of the story of Los Angeles, let us see what there
is to know about that romantic and ancient habitation from
which Los Angeles sprang and came into being.
It is not improbable that before rnany years have passed
Los Angeles will come to mean all the territory lying between
the mountains and the sea on either side of the center of the
city for many miles of distances. And this, of course, will
bring old San Gabriel into the fold. So, in telling the story of
San Gabriel, we are really telling a part — the first and in many
ways the most important part — of the story of Los Angeles
itself. And we are further justified by the fact that it is a
tale that reads like fiction and is stranger than fiction, as the
truth often is.
In order to ascertain how San Gabriel came to be, we must
go back again to that great Franciscan enterprise of which
Fray Junipero Serra was the soul, because this it was that
set things going here at the start and that has left an influ-
ence upon the country that time has been futile to obliterate.
Nor is it probable that time will ever be able to obliterate Fray
Junipero 's spirit. And this is well, for happy is that land
which has a definite ideal.
When Father Serra left Mexico to establish the white
man's Christianity and civilization in California, his instruc-
tions were to found and erect three mission establishments.
The first was to be at San Diego, the second at Monterey, and
the third at a place between to be called San Buena Ventura.
12
FROM THE MOUNTAIN'S TO THE SEA 13
It is to be supposed, of course, that after these three missions
were established, others would be built. Anyway, it turned
out that way. Serra and the expedition with which he came,
and which was under the command and direction of the great
Don Gaspar de Portola, California's first governor and im-
mortal as the discoverer of San Francisco Bay, the greatest
of all the world's harbors, reached San Diego, as before men-
tioned, in July, 1769, and it was on the sixteenth day of that
month in that year that the mission of San Diego was founded
and the roof of the first white man 's habitation on the western
shores of America erected.
As soon as this had been done, Serra went to Monterey,
and in the following year, 1770, he founded there the mission
of San Carlos, which he made hie headquarters and which
remained as such during his lifetime. In the same year he
founded at his own initiative the mission of San Antonio de
Padua, seventy-five miles east of Monterey, where its ex-
quisitely beautiful ruins are still to be seen by the traveler
who has the wisdom to turn aside from the beaten tracks of
traffic and travel.
The mission of San Bueno Ventura, which was to have
been the third mission, had to wait a long time to come into
existence. Fray Juniper o was by this time aflame with en-
thusiasm, and his restless energies blazed forth upon the
entire length of California. He seemed to have had a desire
to build missions as if by magic, and was impatient to bring
the native Indians into the Christian fold and to teach their
hands to know the glory and the joy of work. So he dis-
patched orders to San Diego to the mission fathers and the
soldiers of the garrisons there to set out without further
delay to found the fourth mission in that mighty chain which
ultimately stretched 700 miles along the golden vistas of the
King's Highway between San Diego and Sonoma.
The founding of a Franciscan mission in California was a
notable event in those old days that are passed away now
forever, and each foundation was distinguished, as it happens,
by extraordinary incidents which come down to us now golden
with the glamour of romance. And it may be said that of all
the twenty-one missions which the Franciscans founded in
14 LOS ANGELES
California between 1769 and 1823, the events which attended
the founding of San Gabriel are perhaps the most dramatic
of any.
The fathers at San Diego who were assigned to found this
first mission were Padres Benitos Cambon and Angel Somera.
Fired with the same zeal that inspired their great leader,
Junipero, these two brown-robed priests were eager for the
new conquest which they were about to achieve, but it ap-
pears that they had a difficult time to get an expedition in
shape. It was only after the most urgent pleadings that the
military authorities consented to let them have ten soldiers
as an escort. They were also able at last to get together the
necessary supplies and pack animals and to bring with them
a few of the Christianized Indians who had been brought up
from Mexico.
It was upon August 6, 1771, that the expedition left San
Diego, and after traveling forty-six leagues they came to the
place that had been selected for the site of the new mission.
As we look backward now in imagination we can picture
with what fascinated interest these wonderful pioneers must
have made the journey from San Diego to the place which
was to be known ever afterward as San Gabriel. They passed
by the wonder of the sunset sea with its white shore of glory,
through the live oak groves of the mountain passes, up and
down the brown sunlit hills, across the shimmering waters of
the Santa Margarita and other dimpled streams ; camping at
night under the canopy of the soft summer stars.
One night they camped on the banks of the Santa Ana,
which Father Crespi, who had made the same journey with
Portola two years before, had called the River of the Tem-
blores, because of the earthquake shocks that they had expe-
rienced there. The Indians they met on the way were friendly
and hospitable and were profuse in their invitations for the
travelers to remain with them. But the expedition pushed
forward until it at length arrived at the sought-for spot on a
beautiful hill above a river, now in these modern times a wil-
derness of oil derricks.
It seemed that the conquest was to be a happy and a most
peaceful one, but just as the padres and the other members
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 15
of the expedition were congratulating themselves upon this
belief, they were suddenly horrified to behold the approach
of a great horde of savages armed with bows and arrows bear-
ing down upon them with wild cries, bent upon no other pur-
pose than to annihilate the strangers. Never was tragedy
more imminent than at that moment. It was apparent that
only the interception of the hand of Providence could save
the missionaries and their companions. And it seems tbat
Providence did intervene. At least, we may accept what hap-
pened as supernatural or else decline to accept any other
' event attributed in history or tradition to the intervention of
the Divine Power.
And what happened was this : When the missionary fathers
saw that great, wild, savage mob of bloodthirsty creatures
bearing down upon them, they unfurled to the winds a banner
on which was painted an image of Mary, the mother of Christ.
The effect was magical, if not miraculous. The savages in-
stantly halted and, gazing in awe upon the holy image, they
threw down their bows and arrows, fell upon their knees, and
in deepest contrition made signs to the padres that they de-
sired to submit themselves to them.
And so, after all, the mission of San Gabriel was founded
in peace and safety. The date was September 8, 1771. This
original mission, it is well to state, was not erected on the site
of the present mission of San Gabriel familiar now to us all
and famous the world over. The original site was about two
miles distant and was abandoned five years after its foun-
dation for the present location on account of the disastrous
floods of the river.
We have a vivid picture of the original foundation of the
mission of San Gabriel from the pen of Fray Francisco Palou,
the great first-source of all reliable information concerning
the beginning of things in California.
Palou was the intimate friend and the beloved companion of
Fray Junipero Serra, and when the grand old founder of our
civilization gave up the ghost and was laid in his quiet grave
beside Juan Crespi in beautiful Carmel, Palou for a time
served as Serra 's successor in the office of father president
of the missions. He then retired to the mother house of the
16 LOS ANGELES
Franciscan order in Mexico, the college of San Fernando, and
there devoted the remaining years of his useful life to writ-
ing not only the history of the Franciscan missionary enter-
prise in California, but also writing a life and biography of
Father Junipero. Both of these works, the first commonly
known as the "Xoticias" and the second as the "Vida," are
not only invaluable as authentic records and chronicles, but
are exquisite also as literary clashes.
And this is the account of the founding of the first mission
of Gabriel the Arcangel as written by Francisco Palou :
"The Fathers who were a:oins: to establish the mission of
San Gabriel arrived at the Kio de Los Temblores. they ex-
amined its banks, it did not suit them, they went onward to
the valley of San Miguel and near the river of this name, not
very far from its source, seemed to them more suitable for the
mission, thus they determined to found it on a hill extending
from said valley, at the foot of which ran good ditches of
water with which they could irrigate the fine lands distant
from the river about one half a league. The said ditches were
wooded with cotton woods, willows and other trees and much
bramble and innumberable wild vines. About a league from
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 17
the said place there is a great wood of oaks with many ditches
of running water.
"Appreciating all these points they commenced the foun-
dation of the eighth day of September of the said year of
1771, day of the birth of our Lady, they were raising the holy
cross, standard of our redemption, on a little bower which for
the present served for a church that celebrated the first
mass giving a beginning to this mission dedicated to the
arcangel, San Gabriel."
The first few years of the existence of the new mission"
of San Gabriel were filled with trials and difficulties. The
fathers met with discouragements sufficient to have dismayed
men of any other caliber. And it was all because of the dis-
reputable Catalonian soldiers who had been assigned to act
as the military guardians of the place. These soldiers were
unspeakably immoral, and the outrages they committed
against the Indian women were so frequent and of such a foul
nature as to have aroused the bitterest hatred in the hearts
of the natives.
The most notorious incident was the case of a soldier tak-
ing the wife of an Indian chief. "When the chief resented
the indignity, the soldiers killed him, cut his head off, and
stuck it on a pole in front of the mission gates. It was only
by the exercise of almost miraculous power that the mission-
aries were able to keep the Indians in hand when this incident
occurred. All through the history of the missions we find
that the greatest obstacles which the fathers had to surmount
was the immoral example of the Spanish soldiers.
And that the mission fathers succeeded despite all this is
evidenced not alone by the fact that they finally brought the
whole race of California Indians into the fold of the faith,
but it is also well illustrated by many specific and eloquent in-
stances. One of these instances concerns the great Fray
Junipero himself.
It is related that one time he came up from San Juan
Capistrano, when that mission was being builded, to secure
provisions and cattle for it from San Gabriel, which had then
come to be a flourishing establishment. Only one soldier and
one of the San Gabriel Indians accompanied Father Junipero.
18 LOS ANGELES
On the way the three were attacked by a band of painted,
hostile savages armed with bows and poisoned arrows. When
the faithful San Gabriel Indian saw the danger and realized
that Father Junipero would undoubtedly be killed if some-
thing were not quickly done in his defense, he cried out to the
savages that a great company of soldiers was following and
was near at hand, and that if they did not turn and flee at
once the soldiers would kill them. The stratagem worked
like a charm. But what it proves more than anything else is
that the Indians, when Christianized, loved the padres and
were devoted to them, and that they were also able to dis-
criminate between the goodness of the missionary fathers and
the wickedness of the soldiers.
After the first few difficult years, however, San Gabriel
flourished amazingly and finally came to be quite the greatest
of all the missions. Indeed it was called the "Queen of the
Missions." Thousands and thousands of Indian neophytes
were housed and taught within its great walls. It became
famous for its grapes and wines, and it had an orange grove
and beautiful gardens and great pastures for the almost
countless herds and flocks of the field; and there came even
a time when a ship was builded there. They went back into
the mountain canyon, cut down great trees, hewed them into
planks and brought them to the mission where they framed the
vessel, and they then carried it in pieces to the harbor of San
Pedro and launched it there.
Los Angeles is a city builded on a desert, and wherever
there is an instance of this kind in history, we find, of course,
that the great problem to contend with as population in-
creased was a water supply both for domestic and irrigation
purposes, and as we go back through the dusty pages of his-
tory, we discover that it was from San Gabriel, the mother
of Los Angeles, that Los Angeles learned all that it has ever
known down to this day concerning water supply. Even now,
after a century and a half of time has passed away, the re-
mains of the great aqueduct at San Gabriel are still to be
seen, the ditches that were builded with such sturdy masonry
still refusing to crumble.
What wonderful men they were, these first Franciscan
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 19
pioneers of California! They were engineers and craftsmen
of the first order. They knew all the trades that civilized
men of their time knew, and the work they taught the Indians
to perform was of such an enduring character that the rain
and sun of 150 years of neglect and decay have been futile
to break it down. The strongest dynamite was necessary to
break the old irrigation ditches and head-gates that still
remain at San Gabriel.
There are a lot of things of which we boast as new in our
modern California which are really old. And in this regard
we might mention our manual arts schools and our normal
schools. Every mission was a manual arts school — great
industrial schools in which the natives were taught to be
skilled in more than half a hundred trades. When we look
upon the great manual training schools of modern Los An-
geles, it is interesting to know that there was a manual train-
ing school in San Gabriel a century and a half ago. And
when we regard with satisfaction, as we should, the great
normal schools of the state, it will help us the more to admire
those who went before us in the distant past, to know that they
did also these same things and did them as well as we are
doing them now and under incomparably more difficult cir-
cumstances. There was a normal school in the old times at
San Gabriel mission to which were sent young Indian men
from all the surrounding country to be trained as school
teachers for their people.
Long before Los Angeles was dreamed of, San Gabriel
was an important place. Besides, it was a happy place, filled
with peace and plenty, joyous with the day's work and holy
with the voice of prayer. On the great feast days, when the
population gave itself over to recreation and enjoyment, the
old plaza of San Gabriel, a great sunlit quadrangle now pit-
iably narrowed and shut in, was the scene of many notable
celebrations.
In addition to the busy yet happy life that it led within
itself in its own bright little world, San Gabriel was a hospice
in the land. It was there that the travelers up and down the
King's Highway stopped for shelter and for food. And there
came to its great oaken doors also — the great doors that
20 LOS ANGELES
swung ever inward with welcome for whosoever might come —
the caravans that toiled their way on the inland trails up from
Sonora to the capital at Monterey. And in the days of the
Argonauts, when the plains and the deserts were filled with
gold-seekers on their way to sudden and unparalleled fortune,
San Gabriel was the wayside inn that sheltered many a weary
head. There never was a price to pay, and it did not matter
who the man might he or what his creed or nation, he was
welcome to shelter and food and rest at San Gabriel though
he had not a penny in his pocket.
San Gabriel was also the half-way house in that empire
which the Spanish king had flung from the heart of Mexico
up across the hills and valleys to the Bay of San Francisco.
In short, before ever a stake was driven in the chaparral
where Los Angeles stands today, San Gabriel built its mile
posts on the high-roads of civilization. Its bells, that still ring
the music of the Angelus across the great green valley and
up to the echoing hills, were ringing in their gray watch
towers long before the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia rang its
fateful message across the world.
For almost three-quarters of a century San Gabriel thrived
and prospered. Then came the day of its doom. And the way
of it was this :
When nearly fifty years of time had passed after the foun-
dation of the first Franciscan mission at San Diego by Fray
Junipero Serra, and when these great establishments had
grown strong and rich through the labor of the Indians and
the marvelous management of the padres, the politicians in
civil life and the camp-followers of kings came to look with
greedy eyes upon all this wealth which had been acquired
solely for the betterment, the prosperity and happiness of the
Indians.
As to the missionary fathers, the Franciscans, the mere
material wealth of the missions had no appeal to them what-
ever. The Franciscan friar is wedded to poverty. He can
own no more than the rough brown robe on his back and the
sandals on his feet. So, when the missions were confiscated by
the civil power, it was not the friars who were robbed, be-
cause how can you rob a man of something that he. does not
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 21
have? It was the Indians who were despoiled; and it is a
bitter, black story.
In the year 1813 the Spanish Cortes promulgated a decree
which set forth that the Indian missions in California be
"secularized." This was a polite way of saying that they
should be seized and confiscated.
Now, this move of secularization would have been dis-
honest under any circumstances, but it was doubly so in view
of the fact that it was not the Spanish Government or the
Republic of Mexico that furnished one pemiy of the money
through which the Franciscans were enabled to begin and
carry on the work of the missions with such marvelous suc-
cess. The money was contributed by private persons in Spain
and Old Mexico, and the fund which was thus accumulated
came to be known as the "Pious Fund" for the reason, it is
to be supposed, that it was money contributed by pious indi-
viduals eager for the spread of the gospel and the glory of
the church.
This fact, however, was airily and very brazenly ignored
by the Spanish Cortes, and the decree declared that the Fran-
ciscan friars should be put out of the mission and their
places taken by secular clergy, which is to say by priests
who did not belong to either the Franciscan order or any of
the other orders of the church. It was declared that the mis-
sions should be converted into parishes, and that it was time
for the Indian to stand alone and to throw off the friars'
gentle yoke.
The idea was a fearfully mistaken one, and any disinter-
ested person would not have hesitated to say that its results
would prove tragically disastrous. The Indian had not
reached that stature where he could stand alone.- It was true
thafhe had learned to do a white man's work, that he could
sing and say his prayers and play upon musical instruments,
paint pictures and carve on wood and speak the Spanish
tongue, and that he could read and write. But he was still a
child, no more fit to stand alone than a child would be, and
the events which ensued after secularization really took place
amply proves the truth of these statements.
Happily, however, the decree of the Spanish Cortes in 1813
22 LOS ANGELES
was never actually carried out, and San Gabriel and all the
other missions up and down the sunny stretches of El Camino
Real went on, happy and prosperous, oblivious to the impend-
ing doom.
Came then a time when Mexico threw off the yoke of Spain
and took its place among the free republics of tbe world. Cal-
ifornia, that was always before a Spanish territory, then
became a territory of Mexico. And the lazy, shiftless pol-
iticians of both Mexico and California, whose numbers were
countless, seeing the great mission establishments with
bursting granaries and countless herds and flocks, with or-
chards and vineyards, richer with every passing year, be-
thought themselves of this old decree of the Spanish Cortes,
and immediately they took pains to have it actually carried
into effect.
In the year 1830 the territorial deputation in California,
which was a sort of a local legislature, adopted a plan of
legislation through which, under cover of civil authority, the
old scheme of 1813 could be realized with many additional
advantages to the confiscators. Three years afterward, in
1833, the Mexican Congress passed an act putting the wheels
of confiscation in actual motion. It was ordered that the Gov-
ernment should seize the missions. But, as though to make a
show of justice, glittering assurances were given the church
that it should be well cared for out of the spoils. It is need-
less to say that these promises were never kept. The typical
Mexican politician was a shifty man who did not allow a
promise made to haunt him or to keep him awake at night.
And so the dirty deed was done. The brown-robed priests
that had come to the desolation of a wilderness, giving up
their beautiful lives for the sake of God's most wretched
creatures, and who, through infinite patience and sacrifice
and toil had taught the Indian to labor and to pray and to
make the desert blossom as the rose, were driven forth like
dogs from the stately arches and the great rafters which they
had reared. And the Indian, suddenly deprived of the padres'
fatherly care, went back to the hills, dazed and helpless, to
starve and to die.
The missions, one after the other, were auctioned off by
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 23
their despoilers, each one for a song to whoever had the voice
to sing, and among them was San Gabriel, queen of them all
— the mother of Los Angeles. And so, with no one to do the
work that was to be done, no hand at the plow, no herder for
the flocks, no one to garner the grain or the fruit of the fig
tree and the vine, a silence lonelier by far than death fell
upon the gray mission tower and over all its far-flung walls
and fields. The old joyous life that once was there, the music,
the song and laughter, the ring of the anvil and whir of the
loom, departed never to return.
But it was before the day of doom — and long before it — ■
that San Gabriel became the mother of Los Angeles. On a
sunny morning in the year 1781 the Gobernador came down
from Monterey with a troop of cavalry to San Gabriel, and
the next day he rode out with his horsemen and the neophytes
and the padres and the pobladores. They marched three
leagues eastward toward the sea and the setting sun. And
they came to a place which is now the old plaza of Los Angeles,
but where there was then not even the footprints of a man.
And they reared a cross, fired volleys of musketry, sang the
Te Deum and read to the multitude the proclamation of Carlos
III, King of Aragon and Castile, Emperor of the Indies and
Master of half the world, wherein it was decreed that there
on that spot a city should be laid and that they should fashion
its name in honor of the Mother of God.
CHAPTER III
THE FOUNDING OF THE PUEBLO
Wherever a city in America or elsewhere can identify its
founder, it never fails to do so with feeling of pride. We
suppose the sentiment is the same that influences an individ-
ual to trace back his family history to an original ancestor.
Los Angeles, of course, is no exception to this rule, and it
enjoys the good fortune of knowing well who its founder was
and what manner of man he was.
Taking him by and large he was a fairly good man, too, and
in some ways he was also a great man. He had his faults, it
is true, but all men, great or small, also have had their faults,
and it is not to be expected that there will ever be a man
without some weakness or other of character so long as hu-
man nature remains as it is and we are clothed in the weak-
ness of flesh and blood.
The name of the founder of Los Angeles was Felipe de
Neve, and he was the third governor of California. There
have been a great many governors of California from the first
one down to the present time, and it is with no small degree
of satisfaction that we find Don Felipe de Neve holding his
own among them in history as an executive of consequence
and of parts. Wherefore, our city of wonder may look back
to its flesh and blood ancestor with some smugness of con-
tent, and certainly with little or nothing of which to be
ashamed.
The great seal of the City of Los Angeles — one of the
most artistic and beautiful of all municipal seals — relates in
its colorful heraldry that the city has passed, so far, under the
dominion of four flags. It was first a city of a province of
Spain; then a city of a territory of the Republic of Mexico;
again, after a very brief but thrilling and immortal period, a
city of the Republic of California, popularly known as the
24
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 25
"Bear Flag Republic"; and it is now, as it shall doubtless
remain until the end of all time, a city of the United States of
America.
There were, in all, ten Spanish governors of California,
beginning with Don Gaspar de Portola, who came in com-
mand of the expedition of 1769 that brought Fray Junipero
and his brown-robed Franciscan companions to found the
white man's civilization and Christianity on these sunset
shores, and to colonize California for Spain. Among these
Spanish governors there was none unworthy of attention
and a lasting place in history, and there were at least three
among them who stand out as extraordinary persons. And
we think it is safe to say that Don Felipe de Neve, the founder
of Los Angeles, was one of these three.
Felipe de Neve was, first of all and essentially, a soldier.
But, as the case has sometimes been with other soldiers, he
had also the making of a statesman in him had his career
turned early to civil instead of military administrations.
When he received his appointment as governor of California
from the Spanish viceroy in Mexico, de Neve was a cavalry
officer at Queretaro. He arrived at Monterey, the capital, in
February, 1777, and found conditions in the province far from
being satisfactory from any point of view whatever. The
great trouble with everything had its source in the bad feeling
which existed between the missionaries and the military au-
thorities. Each was extremely jealous of prerogatives. Look-
ing back at it now, however, in the calm and unprejudiced
view of history, it seems clear enough that the friars were
the ones who could most justly feel aggrieved. They were
engaged in this superhuman task of lifting the native Indian
out of heathen darkness into the light of Christianity and to
teach him at the same time to abandon his ancient traditions
of idleness and shiftlessness, and to bend his back to toil.
The missionaries in their stupendous trial needed and
should have been accorded every possible help, assistance and
sympathy from everybody around them. But, instead of re-
ceiving this sympathy and assistance from the military au-
thorities and the soldiers of the garrisons, they received, in-
stead, rebuffs at every turn that was made, and every con-
26 LOS ANGELES
ceivable and unwarranted obstacle that could be imagined was
spitefully and even viciously thrown in their path. The friars
complained unceasingly to the viceroy in Mexico, and even
got word to the king himself in Spain of their difficulties, but
it does not seem to have availed them much.
Now, when Felipe de Neve came to Monterey and found
these to be the conditions, he did what seems to us to have
been a move in the right direction, and one that only a man
of right impulses and good heart would make, which was,
namely, to at once make the most friendly advances to Fray
Junipero, the father president of the missions. And we are
glad to find that Fray Junipero met these advances in the
spirit in which they were made, and that ever afterward while
de Neve continued as governor of the province, he lived at
peace with the friars except for two or three incidents that
perhaps neither side could be blamed for.
We find, further, that during his term of office as governor
of the province, Don Felipe composed and caused to be pro-
mulgated in the year 1779 a code of laws for California which
stand today as the work of a real statesman. This code was
called the " Reglamento, " and it made provision, among other
things, for the manner in which California should be col-
onized ; laying down laws for not only the establishment but
also for the government of towns; outlining the procedure
that should promote stock-raising and agriculture and the
progress of the industries ; and it also contained a very pre-
cise and exhaustive regulation for the various procedures and
conduct of the troops occupying the province.
De Neve was governor of California during a period be-
tween October, 1774, and September, 1782. Upon his retire-
ment from office the king bestowed a high decoration upon
him and promoted him to be inspector general of all the mil-
itary establishments of new Spain north of Sonora in Mexico,
and including New Mexico, Texas and California. He made
his headquarters at Chihuahua with the rank of general. He
died in Chihuahua toward the end of the year 1784.
As far as Los Angeles is concerned, however, we take it
that it will continue to regard its own foundation as the great-
est achievement of the life of Don Felipe de Neve. And this
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 27
brings us to that memorable and fateful event. We find
that the governor was at the Mission San Gabriel, the mother
of Los Angeles, in August, 1781, having journeyed from Mon-
terey, the capital, with an escort of troopers and the necessary
entourage. And it was while enjoying the hospitality of the
padres at the mission that he formulated there in some now
long lost room of that once vast establishment the way in
which the new city was to be founded and the laws and rules
by which it should be guided and governed. It is so intensely
interesting to know the manner in which Don Felipe went
about the great work he had in hand that we are sure we
should make a somewhat exhaustive record of it here.
First of all, we find from the governor's instructions for
the founding of Los Angeles (the paper bearing date of Au-
gust 26, 1781, at San Gabriel), that after selecting a spot for
a dam and a ditch by which the land was to be irrigated, the
next step was to choose a site for the town, which was to be
on high ground commanding a view of the farm lands, but,
at the same time, some distance from the river ; the houses to
be exposed to the north and south winds.
It seems that Don Felipe was very much concerned about
the winds at the place where the new city was to be. He
evidently thought that the people might be distressed by them.
But we know now, of course, that his fears were groundless.
Los Angeles is remarkably free from wind storms, and it is
only on a day now and then throughout the whole year that
they are noticeable at all.
There was to be a plaza, which was afterwards duly laid
out, its four corners to face the cardinal points of the com-
pass, the streets running from each of the four sides of the
square. Thus, said Don Felipe, "no street would be swept
by the winds," always supposing that the winds would con-
fine their action to the cardinal points, but I think the Los
Angeles winds have not always been obedient in this respect.
Now we see that the plan that the governor had for the
new city was a very good plan in that day. Indeed, it would
be a very good plan today or in any day for a new town any-
where. The square, or plaza as the Spaniards called it, is a
fine focus from which to survey a town. So, Felipe de Neve
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 29
made a good beginning in surveying his new city by beginning
with an open square.
Abutting on the square he laid out house lots, each one
about 60 by 120 feet in size, and the number of these town lots
was to be more than double the number of people who were
to compose the first population. The eastern side of the plaza
was set aside for public buildings. The first settlers were to
draw lots, and did do so, for choice of the farming lands,
which was fair enough, as everybody must admit.
We come now to a very important record in the history
of Los Angeles, namely, the list of its first inhabitants. As
we have already learned, Los Angeles was what might be
called a premeditated town. In these times it would be called
a "come-a-long" town, that is to say, it was first laid out in
streets and residential spots and then the people were called
to come and occupy it.
Everybody living today in our wonder city must have some
time or other asked himself who were the first families of
Los Angeles? "Who were the first "Four Hundred," as one
might say. Fortunately, we have their names, their standing
in life, the racial blood that was in their veins, and, by a very
slight exercise of the imagination, we can picture what kind
of people they must have been socially, and what strata they
occupied in human society.
It is probably to be feared that a lineal descendant of any
of the first residents of Los Angeles living today, if such there
be, will not be found boastful of his antecedents. Maybe, in
all the essentials and fundamentals of life, these first settlers
were the best of men and the best of women; they may have
been honest though poor, and eager to make their way in the
world by the performance of honorable deeds, but they were
not of aristocratic birth, and a descendant of theirs would
find small reason for vanity in the fact that his ancestry was
so constituted.
There is one thing about them, however, which cannot
fail to impress the mind of whoever digs into the musty cel-
lars of the past and thumbs the dim pages of history, and this
is that the Los Angeles of today is a city composed of people
in whose veins course the blood of all the races of the earth ;
30 LOS ANGELES
and the same thing is to he said of the first inhabitants.
Therefore, the original settlers of the city may be said to
have been prophetic of the day that was to be when the little
pueblo should have sprung out of its squalor and obscurity to
take its place among the great cities of the earth.
The historic first families of Los Angeles were twelve in
number, mustering among them in all, counting men, women
and children, forty-six human beings. The blood of the four
great races was in their veins — red men, black men, yellow
men and white men. Can the most exacting cosmopolite ask
more ?
Moreover, who so dull of curiosity that he would not like
to know the very names of the heads of these twelve first fam-
ilies ? Are they not now immortal, although in their day and
time they walked humbly on the earth unhonored and unsung
and quite unknown? Is it not something far beyond the ordi-
nary to have been the first man to live in a place where now
every man in the world longs to live? Indeed, yes. Where-
fore, let us set down the names. They were as follows :
Josede Lara, Spaniard, 50 years of age, wife Indian, 3
children; Jose Antonio Navarro, mestizo, 42 years, wife
mulattress, 3 children; Basilio Rosas, Indian, 68 years, wife
mulattress, 6 children; Antonio Mesa, negro, 38 years, wife
a mulattress, 2 children; Antonio (Felix) Vilavicencio, Span-
iard, 30 years, wife Indian; Jose Vanegas, Indian, 28 years,
wife Indian, 1 child ; Alejandro Rosas, Indian, 19 years, wife
coyote (Indian) ; Pablo Rodriguez, Indian, 25 years, wife In-
dian, 1 child ; Mamuel Camero, mulatto, 30 years, wife mulat-
tress ; Luis Quintero, negro, 55 years, wife mulattress, 5 chil-
dren; Jose Moreno, mulatto, 22 years, wife mulattress; An-
tonio Miranda, chino, 50 years, 1 child.
In this list there would seem to be satisfaction for every-
body. We have now a large negro population in Los Angeles,
and it is a class that has done its share to build the city. It
must be a matter of pride, therefore, to members of the negro
race, that they were represented among the first families of
Los Angeles. The same may be said of the Chinese of our
present population, although historians dispute among them-
selves as to whether Antonio Miranda, who was listed as a
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 31
"chino," was a Chinaman. The great Bancroft, who would
be infallible if it were not that he also made errors, declares
that Miranda was not a Chinaman. And maybe he wasn't,
but we like to think that he was, because it is desirable that
the great Mongolian race should have had its hand in start-
ing Los Angeles, as well as a hand in pushing it along after
it was started.
Reading between the lines of original documents, we some-
how get the impression that these first twelve families were,
in a way, conscripted. But, even at that, it would seem that
they had no real grounds for complaint against fate. The
government made very generous provisions for them, indeed.
They were equipped, without expense to themselves, to pros-
ecute the work of life. Each family received a subsidy of $10
per month for a period of three years, and in addition a ration
of one meal per day for ten years. They had a town residence
and each family a farm, the water ditched to the farms and
doorways that faced the morning sun. What more could a
reasonable man ask in those days, or in these days, either?
And yet they were not all satisfied. Then, as now, there
were men upon whom favor might be heaped without stint,
and yet they will grumble. The very next year after the
pueblo was founded three of the families were drummed out
of town because they were useless to their neighbors and to
themselves. Don Felipe de Neve was so indignant he had
their property taken away from them and ordered them dis-
missed from the community.
It appears that Don Felipe, the governor, spent about ten
days as the guest of the padres at San Gabriel, after he had
come down from Monterey, before he was ready to fare forth
with his troopers to carry out the orders of the king and found
the new city of destiny. But all was in readiness at last and
on the fourth day of September in the year of our Lord 1781,
the reveille of trumpets sounded at sunrise in the old mission
that morning, reverberating among the far-flung adobe walls
and arousing the sleeping community into action. The day
of fate had dawned.
It must have been a sight to remember that morning in
the old plaza of San Gabriel as the governor mounted his steed
and the winds set the gay plumage of his hat dancing. And
32 LOS ANGELES
when his feet were in the stirrups, and the troopers in their
leather jackets, with sword and lance and shield, fell in be-
hind him, and the padres in their brown robes and sandals,
and the Christian Indians and the new settlers and all were
lined in a great procession, it must have been a stirring scene.
It is a pity that there was no painter there to limn the picture ;
that the day did not have its Homer to write the epic.
There is no human soul breathing the breath of life today
that saw Don Felipe de Neve and his cavalcade march out
through the great arches of the mission of San Gabriel the
Arcangel to found a new city.
Forth they fared along the dusty stretches of El Camino
Real that led from San Gabriel and was lost in the green
chaparral of the Ventura hills — trudging steadily forward
until they had covered perhaps four leagues of distance be-
fore a halt was made and the gobernador dismounted and un-
sheathed his sword and stuck its point into the soft warm
ground, saying : ' ' Here in the name of God and our Sovereign
King we will found the Pueblo of our Lady the Queen of the
Angels."
It was the site of the ancient Indian village of Yank-na.
The waters of the fountain in the plaza of Los Angeles leap
and sparkle today quite upon that very spot. It will be the
better marked, perhaps, some day, when the people shall
erect there a heroic statue of old Don Felipe to proclaim his
deeds.
No doubt the governor made a speech upon the occasion.
"We cannot imagine that any governor, ancient or modern,
would permit so fair an opportunity for oratory to pass with-
out taking advantage of it, And it is to be regretted that we
have not a stenographer's report of what the governor said.
It might prove a good model for the speeches of California
governors in general; and certainly it would be of great in-
terest after nearly a century and a half of time has passed.
A cross was reared under the blue September skies ; the
bright blue silken banner of our Lady of the Angels rustled
softly in the gentle breeze ; the Te Deum was sung ; the sol-
diers fired three volleys of musketry; and one more city
took its place among the cities of the world to work out its
own destinv and to meet what fate might be in store for it.
CHAPTER IV
THE FIRST UNCERTAIN STEPS
We have seen that the City of Los Angeles began its earthly
career on a bright September morning of the year 1781. We
are now to follow it in its first uncertain steps when, like
other infants, it was learning to walk. We have seen, also,
that the original population, provided by conscription, was
not composed of persons who might be called peculiarly de-
sirable. However, they had at least one virtue, which was that
they were "stayers." All but three or four of them settled
down in their new habitations and appear to have been ordi-
narily industrious. They built adobe houses in which to live,
and inclosed the pueblo in an adobe wall. Either this was
done to repel human invasions or to keep out jack rabbits
and coyotes. It is difficult now to decide, but it is probable
that they built the wall mainly for the reason that it was the
fashion to do so in those times.
In the year 1790, nine years after the foundation of the
city, a census was made, the details of which cannot fail to be
of interest to the present day resident of Los Angeles, when
Don Felipe de Neve's little "come-along" town is pushing its
population toward the million mark and confident of making
it many times more as the rushing years go on.
The census of the year 1790 showed that the total popu-
lation of Los Angeles consisted of exactly 141 souls. As to
sex, there were 65 males and 66 females. Forty-four were
married and 91 unmarried, and there were six of them
widowed. Forty-seven were under 7 years of age, 33 under
16 years, 12 under 29 years, 27 under 40 years, 13 under
90 years, and 9 over 90 years. There was one who was put
down as having come vaguely from somewhere in Europe.
Seventy-two were Spaniards, 7 Indians, 22 mulattoes and 39
vol. i-s 33
34 LOS ANGELES
whose racial blood was a mixture of Spanish, Indian and
negro.
It must be admitted that this was an exceedingly slow
growth for a new town to make in nine years, but the fact is
that for many times nine years Los Angeles was very slow
to grow. In 1890, 100 years after the first census was taken,
the population had reached only 50,000. It was about that
time, however, that Los Angeles really began to jump. The
place didn't have a very good name at the beginning, or for
a long time afterward. For years and years it was nothing
more than a dirty, squalid little village whose people had a
bad reputation throughout the whole province.
And it seems that the reputation they had was by no
means a calumny on them. The men were nearly all ex-
soldiers, and the soldiers of Spain and Mexico sent to Califor-
nia in those times were usually the products of prison pens,
and they were sent here really in penal servitude. It will do
no harm to admit the unpleasant truth of this fact now, when
Los Angeles has come to be not only one of the largest cities
of America, but also one of the most law-abiding and best-
behaved.
In the early days the population included so many dis-
reputable characters that it was even difficult to find a good
man to serve in the office of mayor. Jose Vanegas, the first
mayor, or "alcalde" as he was called, appears to have made
such a poor fist of his job that Governor Fages felt impelled
to put a boss 6ver him and over the magistrate of the pueblo
as well. This village dictator is a man whom we should re-
member gratefully and with pride. His name was Vincente
Felix, and the first we hear of him is in his capacity as the
corporal of the guard at the presidio of San Diego.
Governor Fages called Corporal Felix up to Los Angeles
to be a sort of city commissioner with a free hand, apparently,
to run things as he thought they should be run, and especially
to see that the mayor maintained good order, justice, and
morality; that the magistrate should hold the scales of justice
with an even hand ; that the settlers performed all the duties
required of them, while being deprived of none of their privi-
leges, and also that the native Indians be treated fairly and
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 35
with respect to the dignity of life. And the thing to re-
member about Corporal Vicente Felix is that he saw to it
that all these instructions were faithfully fulfilled. Los An-
geles was a better town during the time that he ruled over it,
and all the records go to show that he was honest and fearless
and just. And it is a pleasure to make this record of him
here — to recall the name of a good man out of the mists of
time ; a good man who did the work that was cut out for him.
The historians tell us, and a search of the record bears
them out in what they say, that very little is known concern-
ing Los Angeles between the years 1790 and 1800. Perhaps it
was an era of dull times when there was little doing anywhere
between San Diego's harbor of the sun and Sonoma's valley
of the seven moons. But there is sufficient information at
hand to show that while the pueblo was not going ahead by
leaps and bounds, it still was by no means slipping back. The
population had increased from 141 to 315. Not much of an
increase, it is true, but the fine thing about it is that it camo
about through the birth rate and not by any invasion from
without. No town that has a pride in growing children is
without hope, and everything points to the fact that Los
Angeles took a special pride in having children then, the same
as now. Also, the number of horses and cattle had increased
from 3,000 to 12,500, and there was a plentiful crop of grain.
The pueblo offered to supply the market with over 3,000
bushels of wheat in the year 1800 at the price of $1.66 per
bushel. It was about this time also that the fortunes of some
Los Angeles families were created by means of land grants,
which Governor Fages made. The great holdings of the
Verdugos were created at that time as well as the Los Nietos
holdings, and also the famous Dominguez ranch. There were
also several other grants which became famous and remain so
to this day. 1131982
We learn, too, that there was some little excitement in
the pueblo about that time, caused by the cutting off of the
water supply by the padres of San Gabriel Mission. Just
how this could be it is difficult to figure out, but the old records
make mention of it. Certainly Los Angeles was not depend-
ent on San Gabriel for its water supply, but it may be that
36 LOS ANGELES
the padres had something to say about water wherever water
was.
There is another thing that crops up among the scant
records of the year 1800 and the decade following it which
may be regarded as a coincidence. It was that Los Angeles
was then, as now, highly favored as a health resort. Invalids
from various places in the province came here then for the
benefit of their health. There were so many of them, indeed,
that Governor Arrillaga was impelled to say that "If it were
not for the invalids, Los Angeles would not amount to any-
thing. ' '
But every night has its star, and every town, no matter
how squalid it may be, has its saint. The saint of Los Angeles
in those times was a girl named Apolinaria Lorenzana. She
spent her life in tending the sick, teaching the children and
luring from the squalid pathways of sin the wayward and
erring. Her's is another name that should not be forgotten,
and it is again a pleasure to us to set down here even so
slight a record of her good deeds.
It seems a strange thing that Los Angeles should have
remained without a church for a period of thirty-three years
after its foundation. The population was wholly composed
of Roman Catholics and of a race of people who, wherever
we find them organizing settlements and communities, built a
church for themselves almost before they did anything else.
That Los Angeles should have proved an exception to this
rule would appear at first glance to be extraordinary. The
explanation, however, is doubtless that the people of the
pueblo were well aware that, even if they had a church, they
would not be able to procure ministers to attend it. They
were short of priests at San Gabriel, where the little handful
of padres had more than they were able to do in the mission
without taking the responsibility of Los Angeles on their
shoulders. So, the way it was, if anyone in Los Angeles felt
the need of attending divine service, the only thing he could
do would be to saddle his horse or hitch up his ox cart and
make the pilgrimage to San Gabriel. And this the people
did with more or less persistence for thirty-three long years
before thev had a church of their own.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 37
At last, on the fifteenth day of August, the feast of the
Assumption, in the year 1814, the cornerstone of the Plaza
Church, still standing as the first house of divine worship in
Los Angeles, was laid. But for four years more that was all
that was done — the laying of the cornerstone. The people
appealed again to the authorities to give them a church.
Many of the king's veterans were spending their declining
years in the pueblo, and they protested that it was unjust to
them that they should be deprived of the consolation of re-
ligion. Then the citizens of the town showed their good will
by subscribing 500 head of cattle, the proceeds of the sale of
which they offered to devote to a fund to help build the church.
The padres at San Gabriel gave seven barrels of brandy
worth $575 to the fund, which fact may cause some surprise
in these times. But we are to learn that things were different
in the days of which we speak. There was no prejudice
against brandy in this part of the world 100 years ago. Any-
way, in 1821, seven years after the cornerstone of the Plaza
Church was laid, its walls had been builded as high as its
window arches, and in one way and another the church was
finally completed. The architect was Jose Antonio Ramirez,
and the church was builded by Indians from San Gabriel and
San Luis Rev, who received twenty-five cents each per day
for their labor. The pueblo also had a village school then
and the people paid the schoolmaster $140 a year salary.
Still following the first uncertain steps of the Pueblo of
Los Angeles, we are a little surprised to find that fifty years
after it was founded it still had a population of only one
thousand souls, and that fully three hundred and fifty of
these were Indians. There were also some Portuguese who
were always regarded as foreigners. And besides — more in-
teresting to us than other items — there were in this neighbor-
hood in that time, of the Anglo Saxon race the following
named persons : Joseph Chapman, W. A. Richardson, Joseph
V. Lawrence, Isaac Galbraith, William Welch, J. Bowman,
J. B. Leandry, John Temple, George Rice, William Fisher,
Jessie Ferguson, John Haley, John Davis, Richard Laughlin,
Fred Roland, and Louis Bauchet, every name of which has a
familiar ring in the life of the Los Angeles of today.
38 LOS ANGELES
And yet the town had not acquired a very good name, for
we find Father Payeres saying then that "if the citizens of
Los Angeles would give their attention to other productions
of industry than wine and brandy, it would be better for both
the province and the pueblo." Also we learn from the dusty
old records of the time that the citizens of the town publicly
declared they would not recognize any military authority;
that Jose Antonio Carrillo was holding the office of mayor
illegally; that a certain citizen was prosecuted for "habitual
rape;" that the secretary of the town council, Francisco
Morales, was removed from office for incompetency. Permit
us also to quote from the police regulations of Los Angeles
for the year 1827, the following :
"All offenders against the Roman Apostolic religion will
be punished with the utmost severity. Failing to enter
church, entering disrespectfully, lounging at the church door,
standing at the corners or remaining on horseback when pro-
cessions were out, will be punished, first with fines, and then
with imprisonment. Purchasing articles of servants, idleness
and vagrancy, swindling, gambling, prostitution, scandalous
assemblages, obscenity, and blasphemy, also riding at speed
in the streets at unusual hours or without lawful cause, will
be dealt with according to law."
Mayor Carrillo added to the excitement of the time by
accusing the president of the town council with smuggling.
The total city revenues, as shown by the record of munici-
pal receipts for the year 1827, were $859, and the expenditures
$763, thus leaving a small but important balance in favor of
the city.
One might not think it, but it is a fact that there was
considerable maritime activity in these parts 100 years ago.
The harbor of San Pedro is regarded today as a new harbor
which the enterprise of recent peoples caused to be made into,
a port. But the truth is that San Pedro was always more or
less of a harbor, and there were many worse. We have
related in this book the fact that one Juan Rodriguez Carrillo,
the discoverer of California, sailed his ships into San Pedro
in 1542, and on the map he made put it v down as a real harbor.
Now it was about the vear 1828 that Mexico, of which
1
-L '■ It 4
in? Hi
j'J^
San Pedro (Los Angeles) a "Real. Harbor'
40 LOS ANGELES
California was then a province, was obsessed with the fear
that foreign powers were bent upon an invasion of our terri-
tory with a view to seizing it for themselves. Consequently,
the Mexican government issued orders closing the "embarca-
deros," as the coast ports were called, against foreign vessels,
of which there appeared to have been quite a number plying
in this neighborhood at that time. The order included San
Pedro, and it was declared that the coast trade could be
carried on only by Mexican shippers. It is interesting to note
that among the foreign shippers that were effected by this
order there were Eussian, English, American and Hawaiian
vessels. Don Jose Maria de Echeandia, then the Mexican
Governor of California, was the man on whom it devolved to
keep foreigners out of the province, and it must be said for
him that he made a very determined effort indeed to fulfill
his task. Looking back at it all in the light of the knowledge
of today, this course of exclusion of foreign trade by the
Mexican government was extremely stupid and ill advised.
But that is neither here nor there as far as Governor Echean-
dia was concerned. His business was to see that the laws of
his government were executed, and this he did do to the
utmost extent of his ability. We must give him credit for
that. A man who does his duty as he sees it must always be
regarded as a good man.
From all we can learn, however, the law aimed at the
exclusion of the foreign trade, like many another law enacted
before it and since, not only by Mexico but by all other gov-
ernments, was possible of evasion. The traders that came
with silks and satins and jewels to trade them for the hides
and tallow of the ranchos and the missions found it quite
easy to make connections. The governor could not be at
every point of the California coast, 1,000 miles long, at the
same time. And with the exception of the governor there was
no one here who had the slightest desire or intention of obey-
ing the law. It was a foolish law, anyway, and perhaps the
people displayed good sense in ignoring it.
Nevertheless, the foreign vessels that came to this coast
then to trade, did so illegally and in reality put themselves in
the class of smugglers, and this is what thev were, of course.
FKOM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 41
But they seemed to enjoy it and managed to extract a great
deal of profit from it. We suppose that poor old Don Jose
Maria, the governor, was very much distraught by it all and
constantly at his wit's ends to know what to do, but that is
something tbat can not be helped now.
By the time that the year 1835 had rolled around and Los
Angeles had been a pueblo, or town, for a space of fifty-four
years, it was able to boast of a population of about 2,000.
There are a number of persons who were living in Los An-
geles then who are living in it still, at the time this book is
being written, and when Los Angeles has a population of
considerably more than a half million and ranks as the tenth
city of the United States.
But in the year 1835 a California town with a population
of 2,000 had as much right to boast as one of our towns now
has to boast of a population of hundreds of thousands, and
it seems that when Los Angeles awoke one morning from its
dreams — or maybe it was one evening that it awoke, for it
had a habit of sleeping a good deal in the day time, too — and
possibly fearing the effect of the presence of forty resident
Americans who did not sleep so much and had a way of
stirring around, the pueblo became suddenly ambitious and
determined to make a spurt. In a population of 2,000 there
were about 600 Indians, leaving only about 1,400 white people
and near white people. But we must not overlook the forty
Americans. They were the ginger in the cake. Then as now,
forty live Americans are sufficient to bring any dead town
to life.
I somehow find myself believing that it was at the instiga-
tion of the Americans, although their movements may have
been insidious, that Don Jose Maria Carrillo was induced to
run for Congress — for member of the Mexican Congress, bear
in mind, because California was destined to wait still another
fifteen years or more before it could send men to the Congress
at Washington.
This Don Jose Maria Carrillo was a very prominent man
in Los Angeles at that time, and a very influential man. He
also had a restless spirit. He was what is usually called a
"plotter." Doubtless he had good reason for his plots, since
42 LOS ANGELES
they were always directed against the territorial government,
and there was nothing that any territorial government in
California in those days needed so much as to be kicked out
and another territorial government put in its place.
When Governor Echeandia was summarily deposed from
office by whoever it was that was running things down in old
Mexico, and the old fire-eating swashbuckles, Emanuel Vic-
toria, sent up to take the governor's chair from Echeandia
and sit in it himself, which he certainly did, Jose Maria Car-
rillo formed a combination with two other prominent persons
hereabouts, namely, Don Pio Pico and Don Juan Bandini, and
fomented a revolution to prevent Victoria from exercising the
functions of the office of governor of California.
There was a lot of trouble about it and a fight which is
called the "Battle of San Fernando," or something like that,
and in which two men were killed and probably fifty others,
who composed the membership of the armies on both sides,
were badly scared. Victoria himself was wounded severely,
and if it had not been for the presence of an English doctor
at San Gabriel Mission, where the governor was taken after
the fight was over, old Emanuel Victoria might have died
from his wounds. Victoria didn't want any more of Cali-
fornia after that. So he abdicated and got back to Mexico
as fast as he could.
Thus the revolution may be said to have been successful,
and Carrillo, Pico and Bandini, who were already prominent,
now became famous. Carrillo, as above stated, ran for Con-
gress and was elected. He had an elegant adobe house near
the old Plaza on ground where the celebrated hotel called the.
Pico House was afterward erected, and we have no doubt
that just before he departed for Mexico to take his seat in
Congress, his American neighbors pointed out to him that
he could do a great deal down there to boost Los Angeles.
And it turns out that Carrillo did that very thing. I regard
Jose Maria Carrillo as the original Los Angeles booster, the
progenitor and the father of all the various, innumerable,
immortal boosters who have followed him through the chang-
ing years down to this clay.
What Carrillo did to help Los Angeles when he got to
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 43
Mexico as a member of Congress, and what lie did to put all
the other towns of California in the shade, so to speak, was
what might be called "plenty;" for the first thing that Cali-
fornia knew there came an order from the Government of
Mexico declaring Los Angeles to be no longer a pueblo, but a
first-class city. And, furthermore, it was ordered and di-
rected that Los Angeles become henceforth the capital of
California, instead of Monterey. It is not recorded that the
other little sleepy pueblos of the province paid the slightest
attention to the matter. San Diego, Santa Barbara, San
Francisco and the mission settlements appear to have never
awakened from their, slumbers to pay the slightest attention
to the matter. But Monterey broke out into a fury. And no
wonder. From the very beginning it had been the capital.
The king himself had so designated it, and from the time that
Don Gaspar de Portola and Fray Juipero Serra first set foot
in it, in 1769, it had been from that moment until Jose An-
tonio Maria Carrillo exploded this bomb, the focus and the
center of all authority, civil, military and religious, as well
as the shrine of fashion, art and culture in California.
Monterey made a tremendous protest against the change,
and it put its protest into eloquent words which were for-
warded to the government in Mexico, the language being as
follows :
"Monterey has been the capital for more than seventy
years; Calif ornians and foreigners have learned to regard it
as the capital ; interests have been developed which should not
be ignored ; and a change would engender dangerous rivalries.
The capital of a maritime country should be a port, and not
an inland place. Monterey has a secure, well-known, and
frequented port, well provided with wood, water, and pro-
visions; where a navy yard and dock may be constructed.
Monterey has a larger population than Los Angeles; the
people are more moral and cultured; and the prospects for
advancement are superior. Monterey has decent buildings
for government uses, to build which at Los Angeles will cost
$30,000 ; and besides, some documents may be lost in moving
the archives. Monterey has center position, mild climate,
fertile soil, developed agriculture; here, women, plants, and
44 LOS ANGELES
useful auimals are very productive ! Monterey is nearer the
northern frontier, and therefore better fitted for defense. It
would be unjust to compel the majority to go so far on gov-
ernment business. It would be impossible to assemble a
quorum of the Legislature at Los Angeles. The sensible
people, even of the south, acknowledge the advantages of
Monterey. Monterey has done no wrong to be deprived of
its honor, although unrepresented in Congress ; while the last
three deputies have had personal and selfish interests in favor
of the South. ' '
We commend a careful reading of this Monterey protest
to our leaders. It is one of those vivid flashes of the past
which provides us with the ability to see things as they were.
To the mind of the writer it furnishes a picture invaluable
for the things that it makes clear and which would otherwise
be very dim or impossible entirely to the vision.
Now there was a funny thing about this first attempt to
take the capital away from Monterey and bring it to Los
Angeles, where it never came except for one little space of
time under Pio Pico, which was altogether illegal. They
finally managed to take the capital away from Monterey, and
it was a very wrong thing to do, but it didn't do Los Angeles
any good.
The funny thing about it was that when the Honorable
Don Jose Maria Carrillo returned to his home town, the City
of the Angels, after having filled his seat in the Mexican
Congress, he was surprised to find that Los Angeles wasn't
any more the capital of California than it had ever been.
The fact was that Monterey simply declined to cease to be
the capital, and seiwed notice on Don Jose Maria Carrillo and
Don Pio Pico and Don Juan Bandini and the forty Americans,
the 1,400 white people and near white people, the 600 Indians
and all concerned, including jack rabbits and coyotes, that
if Los Angeles thought it was the capital of California it had
' ' another think coming. ' '
So that's all there was to it for a long time afterwards.
Los Angeles regularly demanded that Monterey cease its
function as the capital and Monterey as regularly, but politely
and firmly, refused to do so. It seems that in due time the
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 45
matter was forgotten. Maybe everybody felt themselves to
be more or less weary by the exertion, and decided it was time
to take a long- rest.
It was in these ways of slow growth and mild seasons,
with here and there a flare in the night, and now and then a
shot or two and a clank of rusty sabres, living out its sorrows
and its joys, christening its new-bom and burying its dead,
playing as best it could at the game of Empire, and never
without some kind of feast and the dance and the song and
the music that went with it — it was so that Los Angeles took
its first uncertain steps on the great high-road of destiny
where now it towers like a young giant in shining armor.
CHAPTER V
LIFE IN OLD LOS ANGELES
The golden age of California was not truly "the days of
old, the days of gold, the clays of '49." It was long before
that time, and it was like the golden age of Greece. In those
old days when the land was inhabited by the people of the
Spanish race, and the rulers of the land were the patriarchal
owners of the great ranchos, California was the happiest
country in all the world.
In those days a man could travel from San Diego to
Sonoma without a penny in his pocket and never lack for
food or shelter. Not only were the great open doors of the
missions— which were the hospices of the land — swung ever
inward with welcome, but there was the same welcome also
at every other door. To the stranger who sought shelter or
food the answer at the door was always the same: "Enter,
friend, it is your own house. ' '
In the diary of an American who wandered into California
in the old times when Americans here were few and far be-
tween, we find the following entry, which is both eloquent
and illuminating.
"Receiving so much kindness from the native Calif or-
nians, I arrived at the conclusion that there was no place in
the world where I could enjoy more true happiness and true
friendship than among them. There were no courts, no
juries, no lawyers nor any need of them. The people were
honest and hospitable, and their word was as good as their
bond ; indeed, bonds and notes of hand were entirely unknown
among the natives. ' '
Hospitality was a religion with the people of the old Los
Angeles, as it was with all the people of California before it
was invaded by strangers and railroads.
As a type of the men of Los Angeles of the old times, let
46
48 LOS ANGELES
us take the Don Antonio Maria Lugo, whose great rancho
once extended from the Mountain of the Arrowhead at San
Bernardino to the Bay of Santa Monica. It is upon this
great Lugo rancho that the present City of Los Angeles
stands. And it is likewise upon lands that were granted to
Don Antonio by the Spanish king that all the bright and
vibrant cities between the mountains and the sea are standing
today.
Don Antonio had been a soldier of the king. And he must
have been well beloved, for the king richly rewarded him.
Of course the King of Spain had plenty of land to give away ;
the Pope had given him one-half the earth to give away ; but
the fact remains that the king did not give either lands or
anything else to those who did not in some way earn them.
Don Antonio Maria Lugo earned his land by loyal service.
He was the most famous horseman of his day in Cali-
fornia, and in his day California was famous for its horsemen
and its horses. Everybody that was anybody had a horse.
Indeed, everybody had many horses. It might be said, to put
the situation clearly, that anybody that wanted a horse had
nothing to do but go out and lasso one wherever he might
find it. The California horse of those days was a cross
between the wild native horse and the Arabian. It was indeed
a most wonderful creature, and the favorite horse of a man
in those times was more wonderful still.
If Los Angeles be famous now for its automobiles — and
it surely is, because there are more automobiles per capita
here than in any other city in the world — it was once upon a
time, in the old days, equally famous for its horses.
Gen. Andres Pico, the famous brother of the illustrious
Don Pio Pico, last of the Mexican governors of California,
commanding a band of California horsemen, armed only with
lances, defeated Gen. Steven Watts Kearney and a body of
American troops at the battle of San Pasqual wholly through
expert horsemanship, although the American troops were
armed with firearms and supported by cannon.
So, when it is said that Don Antonio Maria Lugo was the
most famous horseman of his day in California, it is saying a
great deal. But it appears to be the truth. It is related of
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 49
him that he once rode from Los Angeles to Monterey to visit
his sister who lived there. His sister was a very old woman
and was seated upon the piazza of her house dreaming of old
conquests no doubt, when a horseman was spied way in the
distance cantering through the dust of the king's highway.
The old lady on the piazza exclaimed, "Yonder rides my
brother Don Antonio." Her sharp-eyed grandchildren who
were seated with her protested that it was impossible for
anyone, and particularly for an old lady whose sight was
failing, to detect the identity of a horseman at that distance.
But the old lady replied : "I am sure it is my brother, Don
Antonio, because there is no other man in California who
rides like that." And she was right. It was Don Antonio.
Well, let us get back to the subject of hospitality as it
was in the Los Angeles of the old clays. And let us take Don
Antonio Maria Lugo as an example, as we promised to do at
the beginning of this chapter. Let us suppose that Don An-
tonio sent word by one of his Indian servants to a friend to
come and dine with him at his great ranch house a little ways
beyond the boundaries of the city. The friend, of course,
would gladly accept. He would not decline the invitation on
any excuse, real or concocted. He had plenty of time to go,
and he took the time. "Time was made for slaves," was a
saying they had in those days.
On the appointed day that Don Antonio's friend was to
dine, he would saddle and accouter his favorite horse, groomed
to glossy silkiness by its Indian care-taker. And the saddle
and the bridle, exquisitely wrought upon with silver and gold,
would be worth a king's ransom. And the man himself would
be splendidly arrayed. He would have a sombrero with a
gold band around it and the rim of it lined with silk ; a bolero
jacket of green or blue or purple, gorgeously embroidered
with gold or silver, his trousers of velveteen or broadcloth
and slashed below the knees; beautifully ornamented shoes
of deer skin; and a scarlet sash around his waist to mark
his rank as a gentleman.
Faring forth to the appointed place, the honored guest
would be sure to meet another horseman before he was a mile
upon the road. "It seems to me," said Richard Henry Dana,
50 LOS ANGELES
who wrote the first famous modern book on Calif ornia, "that
everybody I see in this countiy is riding a horse."
Now, these two horsemen would halt for a word of greet-
ing at least, and when it would evolve that the first man was
on his way to dine with Don Antonio, the second man, to
whom this information had been conveyed, would without
hesitation wheel his horse about and this is what he would
say:
" So ? Then I shall join you and dine also with Don An-
tonio. ' '
And as they journeyed along they would meet another
horseman, and another, and another, and many more, all of
whom would suddenly determine to "also dine with Don An-
tonio."
After a pleasant journey across the ford of streams and
up and down dale, the cavalcade would come at length to the
great house of Don Antonio 's rancho. Indian servants would
flock to take the horses in charge, and then the guests — the
one invited and all the others uninvited — would step with
much pleasant clamour upon the wide piazza. Don Antonio
himself, garbed much in the fashion of his callers, would then
appear in his sunny doorway, pretending to be much sur-
prised by the presence of the gathering. And then he would
throw his great brown arms around the one guest who had
been specifically invited, and he- would say to him: "0, friend
of mine, I know now you love me well indeed, because you
have not only come yourself to dine with me, but you have
brought all these other dear friends with you also."
The dinner would be waiting, the board groaning with its
savory weight, and it would be a feast for heroes. Every-
thing that the palate of the epicure could desire would be
upon that table. And, since eating has been a subject of
interest to all peoples in all times, as it is now and doubtless
will continue to be, it will interest us to know in what manner
they dined who lived and had their being in the old Los An-
geles.
First, there would be broth cooked in the Spanish way
with rice, vermicelli, tallarines, macaroni, punteta, which was
a small dumpling of wheatened flour. And with this broth,
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 51
bread or tortillas made of corn would be served. The next
course would be the puchero, which is to say the meat and
vegetables. Tbere would be a sauce of green peppers and to-
matoes, onions, and parsley or garlic. There would be a sweet
dessert called "dulce" and sweetmeats.
The Californians of those days were great meat eaters,
and at Don Antonio's dinner — the dinner that we are taking
as an example of a dinner in any gentleman's house of those
times — would be many kinds of meat. They had every kind
there ever was and plenty of it and to spare, not to speak
of every species of wild game, all cooked as only the Spanish
women of the old days knew how to cook.
It goes without saying, of course, that there would be wine
at the table, and this would come from Mission San Gabriel,
where the best wine was made. And after dinner there would
be noggin of brandy for all, handed around every now and
then as the evening wore along, and this brandy would come
from the Mission San Fernando, not far away, and where the
best brandy in the old days was made.
They would dine well — dine as only kings have dined. But
with all that they were not gourmands, these old Californians
of the old Los Angeles, nor were they drunkards. They ate,
drank and were merry ; they loved wine, women and song ; but
they were men, it is a pleasure now to say, who held them-
selves within decent bounds both physically and morally. One
of the seven deadly sins is gluttony, and this is a sin that they
did not commit. Another of the seven deadly sins is lust, and
this is also a sin which they did not commit. No class of men
in the world's long history honored and revered women more
than did these fine old caballeros of the early days.
There would be no hurry in the disposition of that dinner.
It would be eaten slowly, it would be spiced with pleasantries
and good-natured railleries. And the hour would be late
before the frijoles and the dulce had been finished. And we
are to remember that there were always frijoles. If you
dined with a gentleman of the day you would sit at his table.
If you dined with poor folk, peons of the land, Christianized
Indians or even "cholos," there would be no table and you
would dine seated in a poor kitchen or out upon the ground.
52 LOS ANGELES
But there would be frijoles then, just the same. There were
always frijoles.
If you were to have searched the pockets of Don Antonio 's
guests at dinner that night, it is doubtful that you would find
money in their pockets sufficient to throw at a beggar upon
the roadside. In the old Los Angeles, as life was then lived,
the people had little money and often none. But it was a thing
they did not need. They had everything that money could
buy, and when a man is situated like that he has no need for
money. It might be fortunate if such were the case again,
and that the condition would remain and never change, for it
is true always that ' ' the love of money is the root of all evil. ' '
At length the hour would grow late ; and the chief guest —
the only guest, indeed, who had been specifically invited, but
who was for all that no more welcome than any of the others
— would rise and say that the time had come for himself and
his companions to depart and make their ways homeward.
Then it was that Don Antonio would open the door of the
great room and look out into the night, closing it again sol-
emnly and facing his guests to say :
"Friends, the night is very dark, and worse than that, I
have been hearing lately disquieting rumors of the presence
of pirates landed at the harbour of San Pedro who are in-
festing the high-roads of the country in banditry. I could not
think of permitting you, my friends, to invite the danger that
lurks without upon such a night as this. You must remain,
where you are and do my poor house the great honor of ac-
cepting its humble shelter."
There would be no murmur against this. The guests did
not fear for themselves, for they were brave men and able to
give good accounts of themselves under any and all circum-
stances. But they were gentlemen in a gentleman's house,
and it was out of the question to decline the hospitality he
offered, no matter how far-reaching it might be.
So, they would remain all night in Don Antonio's house.
And the next morning and all that day he would have many
things of interest to show them on his vast raneho. There
would be new herds of blooded cattle to inspect, new flocks
of sheep, new granaries and, last but not least, a dozen or
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 53
more of new grandchildren that had come to bless the world
with their grace and beauty since the last visit of Don An-
tonio's friends.
The day would wear away happily, as only days can be
in a happy land in its golden age, and the glory of the sunset
would paint the skies; and the long twilight, which in Cali-
fornia is not twilight, but the after-glow of day, would follow,
and then it would be time to dine again. And they would dine
again, as sumptuously and perhaps more so than on the night
before, and the night would be darker than ever, and the
pirates worse than ever, and so they would stay that night
and the next day and the next night and day, until the upshot
of that whole business would be this : That one man who had
been invited to spend a couple of hours at dinner as the guest
of a friend, brought a dozen others with him and they all
stayed two weeks.
"Time was made for slaves," they said. And it was made
for slaves. And it is only the man who can flout time and
make it serve him as it may please him, and who does nor.
permit it to bid him come and go, to eat or drink, to sleep or
wake, only as he shall himself decide — it is only this man who
is not the slave of time.
Thus we are informed as to the history of dinner parties
in the old Los Angeles. But we shall also desire to know how
the people lived at home in their ordinary course of life. It is
unnecessary to concern ourselves as to the manner in which
the poor lived. The poor always lived in the same way, not
only in the old Los Angeles, but in old Babylon and old Rome,
and the whole world over. If a man be poor he must live as
best he can. And may God help him to do so.
It is, therefore, the manner of life which the well-to-do
and wealthy people of the old Los Angeles lived that it is our
business to record. To begin with, there was one high thing
that characterized the life of the people in the old Los An-
geles. That high thing was courtesy. And it is a thing of
which we are having always less and less, the more 's the pity.
In the old Los Angeles there was always time to be polite;
there was always time to be well-mannered.
More than seventy years ago a Philadelphia Protestant
54 LOS ANGELES
clergyman, Eev. Walter Colton, who was a chaplain in the
United States Navy, visited California. He spent three years
here among the people and went away with the kindest memo-
ries of them all. He kept a diary which he later published in
a book, and in tbat book he says this :
"The courtesies characteristic of the Spanish linger in
California, and seem, as you encounter them amid the least
observant habits of the emigrant, like golden-tinted leaves of
autumn still trembling on their stems in the rushing verdure
of spring. They exhibit themselves in every phase of society
and every walk of life. You encounter them in the church,
at the fandango, at the bridal altar, and the hearse. They
adorn youth and take from age its chilling severity. They
are trifles in themselves, but they refine social intercourse and
soften its alienations. They may seem to verge upon extremes,
but even then they carry some sentiment with them, some
sign of deference to humanity. ' '
Here is unimpeachable testimony concerning the people of
the old Los Angeles on a most important phase of character.
Mr. Colton was a stranger among the people, and his view-
point was exactly the same as ours must be now who look
back upon life in the old Los Angeles in these after-times,
with that life long since passed away forever.
But for fear tbat we might get the impression that life as
it was lived in the old Los Angeles displayed its courtesy out-
wardly only and to the stranger only, there is much written
evidence to prove that within the privacy of the home the
same high social virtue was maintained.
An English traveler named Simpson has written of the
great respect and even reverence that children maintain
toward their parents. "A son," says he, "though himself
the head of a family, never presumes to sit, or smoke or re-
main uncovered in presence of his father ; nor does the daugh-
ter, whether married or unmarried, enter into too great famil-
iarity with the mother."
I have myself heard from the lips of very old people of
these things, and they corroborate all that I had read. These
old people told me that when bedtime came the children
invariably knelt before the father and the mother and asked
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 55
their blessing before going to sleep. It was a beautiful cus-
tom, and its practice resulted in the growth of noble men and
virtuous women. Don Pio Pico, the last of the Mexican Gov-
ernors of California, and who was still a familiar figure in
the street of Los Angeles forty years ago, is quoted as stating
that until he was twenty-six years of age he was in complete
subjection to his mother, his father being dead.
"When younger," said Don Pio, "I could repeat the whole
catechism from beginning to end, and my mother would often
send for me to do so for the edification of strangers."
The reference made by Don Pio to his mother brings us to
the subject of women in the old Los Angeles, and women who
read this book will want to know how their sisters, now long
dead and gone, managed to make the best of life in the old
Los Angeles. Fortunately, I have before me the testimony
of one of them — a woman who was a girl in California ninety
years ago.
When she was a girl, she says, "Ladies were rarely seen
in the street, except very early in the morning on their way to
church. We used to go there attended by our servants, who
carried small mats for us to kneel upon, as there were no
seats. A tasteful little rug was considered an indispensable
part of our belongings and every young lady embroidered
her own. The church floors were cold, hard, and damp, and
even the poorer classes managed to use mats of some kind,
usually of tule woven by the Indians.
"The dress worn in the mornings at church was not very
becoming; the rebozo and the petticoat being black, always
of cheap stuff and made up in much the same way. All classes
wore the same ; the padres told us that we must never forget
that all ranks of men and women were equal in the presence
of the Creator, and so at the morning service, it was the cus-
tom to wear no finery whatever. One mass was celebrated
before sunrise for those whose duties compelled them to be
at work early; later masses took place every hour of the
morning. Every woman went daily to church, but the men
were content to go once a week.
"For home wear and for company we had many expensive
dresses, some of silk, or of velvet, others of laces, often of
56 LOS ANGELES
our own making, which were much liked. In some families
were imported laces that were very old and valuable. The
rivalry between beauties of high rank was as great as it could
be in any country. And much of it turned upon attire, so
that those who had small means often underwent many priva-
tions in order to equal the splendor of the rich.
"Owing to the unsettled state of affairs for a generation
in Mexico and in all the province, and the great difficulty of
obtaining teachers, most of the girls of the time had scanty
educations. Some of my playmates could speak English well,
and quite a number knew something of French. One of the
gallants of the time said that, 'Dancing, music, religion, and
amiability were the orthodox occupations of the ladies of Cali-
fornia.' Visitors from other countries have said many
charming things about the manners, good health and comeli-
ness of these ladies, but it is hardly right for any of us to
praise ourselves. The ladies of the province are born and
educated here ; here they lived and died in complete ignorance
of the outside world. We were in many ways like grown up
children.
"Our servants were faithful, agreeable, and easy to man-
age. They often slept on mats on the earthen floor, or, in the
summer time, in the court-yards. When they waited on us
at meals we often let them hold conversation with us, and
laugh without restraint. As we used to say, a good servant
knew when to be silent and when to put in his cuchara (or
spoon)."
When a woman married and became the mother of chil-
dren she stepped into the most sacred niche in all the walls
of her well-loved house. She managed her household with
care and dignity. The servants came and went at her beck
and call. The wool of the sheep was woven under her eyes.
The reverence of her children and her children's children
never failed her until at last her eyes were closed and they
laid her away to sleep with the countless dead.
The stranger in the old Los Angeles never failed to marvel
at the finery worn by both women and men, and which the lady
whom we have just quoted made reference to. And the people
of today may find it a source of wonderment as to how these
58 LOS ANGELES
silks and satins and brocades were acquired by tbe people in
a country where such things were not manufactured.
The explanation is that the Californians traded hides and
tallow, grain, brandy and wine, and other native products,
to the ships that touched on this coast on their way from
the Orient to New England and other parts of the world. One
time when the laws of Mexico prohibited foreign ships from
entering the ports of California, Yankee traders used to
anchor at Santa Catalina Island and from that point surrep-
titiously carry on an exchange with the mainland.
Speaking at one time of the people of the old days here, a
member of the well-known Sepulveda family of Los Angeles
said: "Settled in a remote part from the center of govern-
ment, isolated from and almost unaided by the rest of the
Mexican states, and with very rare chance of communication
with the rest of the world, they in time formed a society whose
habits, customs, and manners differed in many essential par-
ticulars from the other people of Mexico. The character of
the new settlers assumed, I think, a milder form, more inde-
pendence, and less of the restless spirit which their brothers
in Old Mexico possesed. To this the virtuous, intelligent
missionaries doubtless contributed greatly."
Even Hubert Howe Bancroft, the great historian of Cali-
fornia, and who would rank among great historians anywhere
were it not for the fact that he habitually befouled his own
work by crude and inexcusable innuendo, and who made it a
habit to qualify almost every good thing he said of Califor-
nians with a personal sneer of his own, has this to say of the
people of the old Los Angeles :
"Living surrounded by scenes of natural beauty, amidst
olive orchards and vineyards, ever looking forth from sunny
slopes on the bright waters of bay and sea, living so much in
the open air with high exhilaration and healthful exercise,
many a young woman glowed in her lustrous beauty and
many a young man unfolded perfect as Apollo. Even the old
were cheerful, strong, and young in spirit."
Charles Howard Shinn, writing of the old days, states that
there was then not a hotel in California. He did not, of
course, consider the missions as hotels, although they were
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 59
for many a year really such as far as any stranger was con-
cerned, except that there was no bill to pay, no charge made,
and this fact forces them out of the hotel class hopelessly.
The stranger in the land offered an indignity to a house — any
house — if he passed it without stopping. And when he found
it necessary to leave, there was a fresh horse awaiting him
instead of his own. In the room where he slept there was a
sum of money uncounted, and unless he were totally ignorant
of the custom of the country, he understood that if he were
in need of funds he was to help himself freely to what he
found. And if it appeared that some of the money were taken
by the stranger-guest to meet his needs, the people of the
house never under any circumstances counted what remained
after the stranger had departed. They not only never per-
mitted any one of themselves in the community to suffer, but
extended the same charity and boundless generosity to the
stranger as well.
We have said that there was not much money among the
people of the old Los Angeles, which is true. But what there
was it was gladly shared.
But it seems that if the people at large were not of ple-
thoric purse, the missions, at least at one time in their history,
were well-stocked with silver and gold as a result of the tire-
less industry of their establishments, and it is related that a
man came down from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles once to
borrow money, but without success. He was an American and
had married into the Ortega family. By the time he had
returned to his home, a priest of one of the missions heard
of the man's trouble, and so, without the slightest hesitation
or without asking the scratch of a pen in acknowledgment,
he sent the man a tule basket of the capacity of four gallons
filled with gold.
"You ought to come to your priest when you need help,"
said the padre in the message that he sent with the basket
of gold.
Life in the old Los Angeles centered around the Plaza,
where Don Felipe de Neve drove the first stakes of the pueblo
and laid out its four corners. The growth of Los Angeles has
been so sensationally rapid during the recent years that it is
60 LOS ANGELES
easy to form the impression that it must have heen in very
ancient times indeed that the old Plaza was the center of
everything, social, religious and commercial. But there are
many men, not yet so very old, who can remember when this
was the case.
I am indebted to an old friend, the late Harris Newmark,
for reliable recollections of the old Plaza as it was sixty-five
years or more ago. Mr. Newmark was a young man here at
that time, a merchant and a factor in the life of the town.
Before he died he published a book of his memoirs which con-
stitutes a valuable contribution to Los Angeles history. Mr.
Xewmark states that the homes of many of those who were
uppermost in the social scale, clustered about the old Plaza,
and that Jose Andras Sepulveda has a beautiful old adobe
house in that vicinity. Don Ignacio del Valle lived there
prior to his residence at Camulos. The Coronels, Aguilars,
Carrillos, the Sanchez family, Vicente Lugo, the Abileas and
Don Agustin Olivera also.
"Don Vicente Lugo," says Mr. Newmark, "w T as the Beau
Brummel of Los Angeles in the early days. His wardrobe
was made exclusively of the fanciest patterns of Mexican
type ; his home one of the few two-story houses in the pueblo.
He was the owner of twenty-five hundred head of cattle. His
mother-in-law, Maria Ballestero, lived near him."
Not only was the Plaza the center of everything because
of these great people who lived there in the old days, but it
was the municipal headquarters and everybody of note in any
part of California who came to Los Angeles for any reason
has been seen where the old Plaza stands.
Also it is not to be forgotten that the Picos lived there,
and that it was the home of both Don Pio and Don Andres,
each of them renowned in California's annals.
It seems that nothing can be written concerning Los An-
geles without reference to the name of Pico. Don Pio was the
last big man of California under the flag of Mexico. Mr.
Newmark, in his memoirs, recalls Don Pio and says that "As
long as he lived, or at least until the tide of his fortune turned
and he was forced to sell his most treasured personal effects,
he invariably adorned himself with massive jewelry of much
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 61
value; and as a further conceit, be frequently wore on his
bosom Mexican decorations that had been bestowed upon him
for past official service. ' '
We shall have more to say of Pio Pico in another chapter,
but since it has been mentioned that his fortunes turned, I
remember hearing a man of unimpeachable character stating
that it got to be so bad with Don Pio at last that a constable
took his sombrero from his head and seized it for debt one day
on the streets of Los Anaeles.
CHAPTER VI
OLD TIMERS AND OLD TIMES
About fifty years ago the folks in Los Angeles came to
the conclusion that a book ought to be printed about their
city and the people who had been and still were at that time
a part of it. So it appears that a "Literary Committee" was
organized for the purpose of getting out a publication of this
character, and we find that the work of compilation and his-
torical research was entrusted to Messrs. J. J. Warner, Ben-
jamin Hayes and J. P. Widney, with the result that, in due
course of time, a most interesting and valuable booklet was
printed and bound and published by a now long-forgotten firm
of the name of Louis Lewin and Company, the booklet bearing
the imprint of the "Mirror Printing, Ruling and Binding
House."
Copies of this booklet are now extremely rare. From it
we are able to gather much valuable information concerning
the old timers of Los Angeles and the old times. And in this
chapter of this book we are using with a free hand the data
we find in the old publication referred to.
Among other things we find the following:
After the independence of Mexico, and the opening of its
ports to foreign trade, the port of San Pedro was one of the
chief points on the coast of California for the shipping of the
products of the country, and for the landing of goods, wares
and merchandise from abroad. The three missions in what
was then Los Angeles County, and the owners of stock-farms,
and the inhabitants of Los Angeles, disposed of their products
and manufactures in payment.
Between the people of Sonora, or of New Mexico, and
those of California, there was comparatively no intercourse
until about 1830. The intercourse between those places and
California, which commenced about that time, was mainly
62
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 63
brought about through the enterprise of American trappers
or beaver hunters.
Jedediah S. Smith, of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company,
and a leader of trapping parties, came into California with a
party of trappers from the Yellowstone River in 1825, and
again in 1826. Through him and his men, others engaged in
trapping beaver in the Rocky Mountains learned something
of California.
In 1828-29 Ewing Young, of Tennessee, who had for some
seasons been engaged in trapping beaver in and north of
New Mexico, made a hunt in the Tulare Valley and on the
waters of the San Joaquin. He had in his party some natives
of New Mexico. He passed through Los Angeles on his way
back from his hunting fields to New Mexico. His men on
their return to New Mexico, in the summer of 1830, spread
their reports of California over the northern part of that
territory.
In 1830 William AVolfskill, a native of Kentucky but from
Missouri, fitted out, in conjunction with Mr. Young, a trapping
party at Taos, New Mexico, to hunt the waters of the San
Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. Failing, in the winter of
1830-31, to get over the mountains between Virgin River and
those rivers discharging into the Bay of San Francisco, and
his men becoming demoralized and impatient from their suf-
ferings of cold, he changed his line of travel and came with
his party into Los Angeles in February, 1831.
With Mr. Wolfskill's party there were a number of New
Mexicans, some of whom had taken serapes and fresadas
(woolen blankets) with them for the purpose of trading them
to the Indians in exchange for beaver skins. On their arrival
in California they advantageously disposed of their blankets
to the rancheros in exchange for mules. These New Mexicans
mostly returned to Santa Fe in the summer of 1831, with the
mules they had obtained in California. The appearance of
these mules in New Mexico, owing to their large size com-
pared with those at that time used in the Missouri and Santa
Fe trade, and their very fine form, as well as the price at
which they had been bought in barter for blankets, caused
quite a sensation in New Mexico, out of which sprang up a
64 LOS ANGELES
trade, carried on by means of caravans or pack animals,
between the two sections of the same country which flourished
for some ten or twelve years. These caravans reached Cali-
fornia yearly during the before mentioned time. They
brought the woolen fabrics of New Mexico, and carried back
mules, and silk and other Chinese goods.
Los Angeles was the central point in California of this
New Mexican trade. Coming by the northern or Green and
Virgin River routes, the caravans came through the Cajon
Pass and reached Los Angeles. From thence they scattered
themselves over the country from San Diego to San Jose,
and across the bay to Sonoma and San Rafael. Having bar-
tered and disposed of the goods brought and procured such
as they wished to carry back, and what mules they could
drive, they concentrated at Los Angeles for their yearly
return.
Between 1831 and 1844 a considerable number of native
New Mexicans and some foreign residents of that territory
came through with the trading caravans in search of homes in
this country. Some of them became permanent citizens, or
residents of this county. Julian Chaves of this city, and who
has served many terms as county supervisor or common coun-
cilman of the city, was among the first immigrants. The
Martinezes, of San Jose, and the Trujillos, and others, were
also among these immigrants. Of foreigners, who were resi-
dents of New Mexico, and came during this period and located
in this county, were John Rowland, AVilliam Workman, John
Reed, all of whom are dead, and the Hon. B. D. Wilson, and
David W. Alexander, heretofore the sheriff of this county.
Dr. John Marsh also came to California in company with
these traders, and after residing in Los Angeles some years,
he located near Mount Diablo, where he continued to live until
he was murdered.
Other parties of Americans found their way from New
Mexico to California at different times in the third and fourth
decades of the nineteenth century, numbers of whom became
permanent residents of Los Angeles.
Richard Laughlin and Nathaniel Pryor, both of whom died
in Los Angeles, and Jesse Ferguson, who lived here many
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 65
years, came from New Mexico, by the way of the Gila River,
in 1828. In 1831, a Mr. Jackson, who had been one of the
firm of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, and a partner of
Jedediah S. Smith, came to Los Angeles from Santa Fe for
the purpose of buying mules for the Louisiana market. He
returned to New Mexico with the mules he purchased. With
him came J. J. Warner, who remained in this place. A Mr.
Bowman, known here as Joaquin Bowman, was one of J. S.
Smith's men. He died at San Gabriel, after having been the
miller at the Mission Mill for many years.
In the winter of 1832-33 a small party of Americans from
New Mexico came over the Gila River route into Los Angeles.
In this small party came Joseph Paulding, who, in 1833 and
1834, made the first two billiard tables of mahogany wood
made in California. The first was made for George Rice, and
the second for John Rhea, both Americans. Mr. Rice came
to California about 1827, from the Sandwich Islands. Mr.
Rhea was from North Carolina, and came with Mr. Wolfskill.
Lemuel Carpenter, of Missouri, was also of this party, and
established a soap manufactory on the right bank of the San
Gabriel River, not far from the present road to Los Nietos.
Subsequently he became the proprietor of the Santa Gertrudes
Ranch, where he died. Wm. Chard was also of this party.
After residing in this city some years and planting a vine-
yard, he removed to the Sacramento Valley. A Mr. Sill, who
also settled in the Sacramento Valley, was of this party.
Ewing Young came into Los Angeles from New Mexico in
March, 1832, with a trapping party of about thirty men. On
this occasion he came down the Gila River. With him in
this party came a number of men who took up their residence
in California ; of which number Isaac Williams was a promi-
nent citizen of Los Angeles City for about ten years, when
he established himself at the Chino Ranch as a farmer and
stock-breeder. He continued to reside there until his death
in September, 1856. Moses Carson, a brother of the renowned
Kit Carson, came with Young at this time. After residing
here a number of years, he removed to Russian River in
this state.
The Town of Los Angeles, from its settlement onward, for
66 LOS ANGELES
more than fifty years, had a population greater than any other
of the towns of California. The first census of which there
are any records was taken in 1836, and the sum total of in-
habitants of the city and country over which the authorities
of the city exercised jurisdiction, which country included the
whole of the old County of Los Angeles, except San Juan
Capistrano, which at that time was attached to the District
of San Diego, was 2,228. Of this number 553 were domesti-
cated Indians.
This census gives the number of forty-six of the residents
of Los Angeles as foreigners, and of these twenty-one are
classed as Americans.
In the list of the officers of the last "Ayuntamiente," or
city government, of Los Angeles under Mexican rule, we find
the following distinguished names: First alcalde and presi-
dent, Abel Stearns; second alcalde, Ignacio del Valle; regi-
dores, David W. Alexander, Benjamin D. Wilson, Jose L.
Sepulveda, Manuel Garfias; sindico, Francisco Figueroa;
secretary, Jesus Guirado.
L T pon going out of office as alcalde in 1849, Stephen C.
Foster was appointed prefect by Governor Bennett Riley.
This was a stormy period for officers of the city; the records
show that their duty was well performed. To the care of
Prefect Foster and Alcalde Stearns then — and to the first
named gentleman since — are we much indebted for the pres-
ervation of the city and county archives, and for the admirable
order of arrangement in which they are found.
From the year 1836, or a year or two before, Abel Stearns
had always figured through their local administrations, in
one manner or another, beneficially to the people. He was
born at Salem, Massachusetts; spent considerable time in
Mexico; came to Los Angeles in 1828; his business a mer-
chant. His fortune seems to have begun about 1842. He
obtained several large grants of land in this county and
elsewhere. He was a member of the Constitutional Conven-
tion of 1849, and of the State Legislature ; always a prominent
and useful citizens until his death at San Francisco, August
23, 1871, at the age of seventy-two years. He married Dona
Arcadia, daughter of Don Juan Bandini.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 67
Dona Ysidora, also a daughter of Don Juan Bandini, was
married to Col. Cave J. Couts, April 4, 1851. Colonel Couts
is before mentioned as lieutenant in Major Graham's com-
mand. He resigned his commission in November following;
established the Rancho of Guajome, in San Diego County. He
died wealthy, at the City of San Diego, June 10, 1874, leaving
his widow, four daughters and four sons.
Don Juan Bandini came to California in 1819, and for
many years filled a considerable space in the public view. He
was administrator of the Mission San Gabriel in 1839 ; one of
the Ayuntamiento of Los Angeles in 1844; a member of the
Departmental Assembly at its suspension, on the approach
of the United States forces, August 10, 1846, but at that date
was at home in San Diego. He had partly written a history
of California at the time of his death, which took place at
this city November 2, 1859, at the age of fifty-nine years. He
was a profound thinker, a clear, forcible writer. Don Juan
was twice married; his first wife, Dona Dolores Estudillo,
daughter of Don Jose Estudillo, formerly the distinguished
military commander of Monterey; his second, Dona Refugio
Arguello. Both ladies possessed singular beauty. Of the
first marriage were Mrs. Robert S. Baker, Mrs. Couts, Mrs.
Pedro C. Carillo, and two sons, Jose Maria Bandini and
Juanito Bandini. Of the second were Mrs. Charles R. John-
son, Mrs. Dr. James B. Winston, and three sons, Juan de la
Cruz Bandini, Alfredo Bandini, and Arturo Bandini.
From an old record also we rescue another pleasant nar-
rative that runs something as follows:
"With the people of Los Angeles 1850 was a year of en-
joyment, rather than of earnest pursuit of riches. Money
was abundant. All sought to make the most of the pleasures
of life, as it seemed. They were passionately fond of the turf.
They might justly boast of their horses, which had sometimes
drawn applause at the capital of Mexico.
August 16, 1851, Don Pio Pico and Compadre Teodosio
Yorba gave their printed challenge "to the North" with bold
defiance — "The glove is thrown down, let him who will take
it up" — for a nine-mile race, or four and a half and repeat,
the stake IDOO bead of cattle worth $20 per head, and $2,000
68 LOS ANGELES
in money; with a codicil, as it were, for two other races, one
of two leagues out and back, the other of 500 varas — $2,000
and 200 head of full grown cattle bet on each race. March
21st following, the nine mile heat was run two miles south of
the city, between the Sydney mare, Black Swan, backed by
Don Jose Sepulveda, and the California horse, Sarco, staked
by Don Pio Pico and Don Teodosio, the challengers. The
mare won by 75 yards in 19 minutes and 20 seconds. Sarco,
the previous spring, had run 9 Mexican miles in 18 minutes
46 seconds. Not less than $50,000 must have changed hands.
More deserves to be said of what the Californians tell of
this exciting race. April 2d the American mare, Nubbins, beat
the American horse, Bear Meat, on the Wolfskin track by 10
feet — distance 400 yards — for 400 cows. The year before Don
Jose Sepulveda's California horse beat Don Pio's American
horse half a length, for $2,000 in money and 500 head of cattle.
Probably the carera is still talked of at Santa Barbara, when
Francisco Noriega's horse, Buev de Tango, beat Alfred Rob-
inson's horse, Old Breeches, with a change of $20,000 among
hands.
In 1852 Don Andres Pico and Don Jose Sepulveda had
two races, one for $1,000, the other for $1,600 and 300 head
of cattle. October 20th Avas the exciting day of Don Jose's
favorite, Canelo, backed by Don Fernando Sepulveda, and of
Alisan, a Santa Barbara horse, backed by Don Andres Pico —
for 300 head of cattle and $1,600 a side ; 400 yards ; Canelo
came out winner half a length.
The New Years' ball at Don Abel Stearns, "where all the
beauty and elegance of the city," says the editor in melliflu-
ous Spanish, "contributed that night to give splendor to the
dance," was followed on the tenth by two races. The end of
Lent, and all the grander festivals were partly enjoyed in
this way.
In 1853 was to be run the race of Ito, brought 700 miles,
against Fred Coy, stake $10,000. The natives were cautious
and it was forfeited; but in March Moore & Brady's horse,
John Smith, beat Powell's mare, Sarah Jane, for $2,100, by
about a length. In February, 1857, Don Jose Sepulveda's
horse, Pinto, easily beat Don Pio's Dick Johnson at San
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 69
Gabriel, for $3,000; and March 5th, Don Jose beat the Gon-
zales brothers at San Fernando for $2,000.
Through the later years heavier stakes than any we have
mentioned were lost and won by Don Juan Aliba and others,
except, perhaps, that of Black Swan and Sarco. Of a very
early day some of the races occupy many pages of the ar-
chives. One tasked the best ability, as alcalde, of the ven-
erable Don Manuel Dominguez: one drew out a profound
decision of Don Jose Antonio Carrillo, of the Supreme Court.
The governor did not disdain to lay down rules for racing.
In his manuscript diary we have the authority of Mr. Francis
Melius, visiting Los Angeles from one of the Boston ships
at San Pedro, for the race of Moses Carson, brother of Kit
Carson, on January 20, 1840. Mose had a heavy bet on two
races for that day. The first he won, despite the salt that —
for luck — had been put in all the holes of the stakes on the
course, and of the little bag of salt and wax candle and silk
cotton astutely concealed in the mane of the opposing horse.
But it ruined Mose's reputation, and mayhap damaged his
purse. He was set down as an hechicero (sorcerer) by his
Sonoranian antagonist, and the second race fell through.
The first three American families permanently settled in
the city, in 1850, were those of J. G. Nichols, J. S. Mallard
and Louis Granger. John Gregg, son of Mr. Nichols, was the
first American boy born — April 15, 1851.
Among the novelties of a strange region, emigrants could
not fail to notice the vivacity and robustness of the native-
born children, and the large proportion of persons of an ad-
vanced age. April 24, 1858, died at Santa Ana, Dona Guada-
lupe Romero, aged 115 years, leaving a son, in the city,
upwards of 75 years. She came here in 1771, wife of a soldier
named Moreno.
Where Downey Block stands, we miss the time worn, little
old gentleman who was wont to sit there all day before the
humble adobe — cared for by two faithful daughters, after the
mother had left the scene. A soldier of by-gone days, to judge
from the antique dress which he delighted to wear; in the
same he was buried, at the age of ninety-two years, July 29,
1859. This was Don Antonio Valdez, who had served at San
70 LOS ANGELES
Diego, San Gabriel and Santa Barbara, and in many an In-
dian cbase or combat.
The men appeared to fine advantage in showy old style
ranchero attire, on their gay and spirited horses. Of the
ladies, few words might scarce reflect the true judgment of
a stranger; certes, it was admiration of elegance and naivete
and kindness, all with good sense and wit so happily blended,
by some rare gift of Nature. That venerable religious pile
on the Plaza did not have pews. To see the ladies kneeling in
vari-colored silks of that time — and their rebosas — what gor-
geous garden imaginable of dahlia and tulip of every hue
could charm half so much? Then a perpetual baile — but 1850
is gone — or fashions have changed perhaps.
Of the 103 proprietors of town farms in 1848, before re-
ferred to, eight were foreigners : Abel Stearns, Louis Bou-
chet, Louis Vignes, Juan Domingo, Miguel N. Pryor, Wm.
Wolfskill, Louis Lemoreau, Joseph Snooks — an Englishman,
a German, three French, three "Yankees" — so has the city
ever been, cosmopolitan.
Under the sound policy adopted at the beginning for the
disposition of pueblo lands, the natural course of business
and family changes, the proprietorship of real property is
much altered. Those of Spanish origin, who numbered 3,000
souls within the city, and about an equal number outside in
the county, retained good agricultural tracts. Within the
patent of the city were 17,752 acres. The increase of culture
of fruit trees — and ornamental too — was remarkable. In 1847
probably were set out 200 young walnut trees; only three
bearing are remembered — one on the east side of Don Louis
Vignes' place, one larger in the middle of the Pryor Vine-
yard, another, very large, of Claudio Lopez. The almond
was unknown.
San Fernando and San Gabriel had a few olives. Long
before 1840, the Californians had the fig, apricot, peach, pear
and quince.
The county surveyor's report of January 1, 1876, gives
fruit trees as follows : Quince, 1,425 ; apricot, 2,600 ; fig, 3,600 ;
pear, 5,800; apple, 8,590; peach, 14,200; olive, 2,170; English
walnut, 6,000 ; plum, 300 ; there were also cherries.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 71
The value of the fruit crop of 1875 was $525,000.
Plums were introduced by 0. W. Childs. Seeds of the
sweet almond, in 1855, were first planted by William Wolf-
skill, which were brought from the Mediterranean by H. F.
Teschemaker of San Francisco. In January, 1875, this county
had 1,100 trees. Compared with the meager agricultural crops
from 1847 to 1855, the return for 1875 is: Beans, 24,400
bushels; onions, 28,350; buckwheat, 1,350; rye, 11,760; wheat,
20,000 ; barley, 415,950 ; corn, 639,000 ; and a respectable show-
ing of hops, tobacco, etc. Hay amounted to 10,250 tons. The
enclosed land was 47,500 acres; total in cultivation 64,500
acres, of which 4,950 were in grape vines. Add, of honey,
571,230 pounds. O. W. Childs, in 1856, introduced bees. He
paid $100, in San Francisco, for one hive and swarm.
In 1850 there was one pepper tree, lofty and wide-branch-
ing, over the adobe house of an old lady living near the hills
a short distance north of the Plaza, the seeds of which came
from a tree in the court of the Mission of San Luis Rey. In
1861 John Temple planted a row of pepper trees in front of
his Main Street store. This the utilitarian woodman has not
spared. But all the city is adorned with this graceful tree;
and flowers of every name and clime— to rival an undying
fragrance of the solitary Rose of Castile twenty years and
more ago.
Of other trees that flourish now splendidly, William Ru-
bottom of Spadra introduced pecans ; William Wolf skill, per-
simmons ; O. W. Childs, in 1856, black walnut — the seed from
New York. About the same time H. P. Dorsey planted black
walnut successfully at San Gabriel. In 1855 Solomon Lazard
imported seeds of the Italian chestnut from Bourdeaux,
France, which Wm. Wolfskill planted at his homestead, and
afterward gave two of the trees to H. C. Cardwell. These
trees, afterward large and productive, were long seen at
O. W. Childs' place. J. L. Sansevaine also brought chestnut
seeds from France, about 1855.
As in older times, every full moon in 1850 the country was
invaded by the Yutahs, under their famous chief, Walker, to
steal horses. Expeditions sent after him were in general un-
successful, now and then unfortunate; as happened in June,
72 LOS ANGELES
when he took off seventy odd of the hest horses of Don Jose
Maria Lugo, near the present Town of Colton. One of the
pursuing party was killed by him. Before that the New Mex-
icans of Agua Mansa had been a barrier to the incursions of
these Indians, without always preventing them. In this year
a volunteer company was raised by General Bean, owing to
hostile demonstrations by the Cahuillas of San Gorgonio.
About June the "Irving party" of eleven men were killed by
the Indians in the cahada of Doha Maria Armenta. One only
of the original twelve escaped, in the friendly shelter of some
bushes. Juan Antonio, chief, had the boldness to offer fight
to Bean.
The rising of Antonio Garra, chief of the Agua Caliente,
in the fall of 1851, spread fear through Los Angeles of a gen-
eral insurrection, from San Diego to Tulare. The danger
soon passed away. The regulars and San Diego volunteers
were under Capt. George Fitzgerald. Gen. J. H. Bean com-
manded the Los Angeles volunteers; Myron Norton, colonel
and chief of staff; S. Bolivar Cox and B. S. Eaton, corporals.
Hon. H. C. Rolfe, Wm. Nordholdt — and many who are dead
—were in service on the occasion.
Estimable for many virtues, General Bean met an un-
timely end at San Gabriel, September 9, 1852. Our exposed
position for a long time thereafter, in the Kern River and
Mojave wars, and other troubles, kept amongst us officers
of the IT. S. army; and not seldom in active service. They
possessed the regard of the people — Col. B. Beall, Majors
E. H. Fitzgerald and George R. Blake, Captains Davidson and
Lovell and Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock.
Lively recollections there are of the splendid band of the
Second Dragoons, Fort Tejon, that made more joyous the
"Fourth of July, 1855," with General Banning as orator of
the clay; again, when Hon. Myron Norton, in 1857, stirred up
patriotic feelings. The day had been kept from the beginning.
Maj. E. H. Fitzgerald lies in the Catholic Cemetery, Los An-
geles. He died January 9, 1860, of consumption.
A quarter of a century, whereof reminiscences come invol-
untarily, is worthy of review. A record of crime must have
attended this progress in manners and government. For one
FKOM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 73
reason or another the people felt compelled often ' ' to take the
law into their own hands." Those moral tempests which
agitated the community to its depths, slumber, we trust, to
rise no more, in this better social condition.
Let us make a diary of a year or two : 1851, May 24th,
came news of the Stockton fire, on the 14th ; loss over $1,000,-
000. June 11th, Col. J. C. Fremont's visit created an agreeable
sensation; 17th, died, Miss Rosa Coronel; 19th, feast of Cor-
pus Christi was celebrated with great pomp; July Fourth
passed off with great enthusiasm; July 6th, Elder Parley
P. Pratt held forth at the courthouse ; 19th, witnessed a per-
formance of "The Rough and Ready Theater," Herr Ritter,
manager, and the critic observes — "When Richmond was con-
quered and laid off for dead, the spectators gave the King a
smile of decided approval. ' ' August 23d, Hon. "W. M. Gwinn,
U. S. Senator, was sojourning amongst us. September 1st, city
lots sold at auction at from $20 to $31 each, purchaser to
have choice. September 2d, died, Dona Maria Ignacio Ama-
dor, aged ninety-one years ; 7th, Doha Felipa Dominguez, wife
of Don Bernardo Yorba ; 17th, Matilda Lanfranco, at fourteen ;
and 21st, at eighty-eight, Doha Ysabel Guirado. October 5th,
D. W. Alexander started for Europe. November 1st, Nicolas
Blair, a Hungarian, married Miss Maria Jesus Bouchet. No-
vember 8th was the first meeting of the Free and Accepted
Masons at the Botica. The same day was published the mar-
riage of William J. Graves to Miss Soledad Pico at San Luis
Obispo, on October 20th. November 20th, at the Puente, aged
forty years, died Doha Incarnacion Martinez, wife of John
Roland. Of her it is said truly : ' ' Many will remember with
what zeal she ministered to the weary traveler, with what care
and anxiety she watched the sickbed — feeding the hungry and
befriending the friendless. Her whole life was an exemplifi-
cation of that enthusiasm in doing good which so particularly
characterizes the christian woman." December 14th were mar-
ried Don Ignacio del Valle and Miss Ysabel Barrela. Decem-
ber 22d, "Forefathers' Day," rejoiced thirty gentlemen by
the presence of ladies and a supper at Monrow's with toasts,
songs and speeches. December 27,. 1851, Antonio Garra was
executed at Chino by sentence of court martial, for insurrec-
74 LOS ANGELES
tion November 23d at Warner's rancho, for the murder of
American invalids Ridgley, Manning, Slack and Fiddler.
Some of the property holders of 1851 were as follows, with
the assessed value of property: Eulogio de Celis, 100,000
acres, $13,000; Jose Sepulveda", 102,000 acres, $83,000; John
Temple, 20,000 acres, $79,000 ; Bernardo Yorba, 37,000 acres,
$37,000; Antonio Maria Lugo, 29,000 acres, $72,000; John
Foster, 61,000 acres, $13,000; Abel Stearns, 14,000 acres,
$70,000; Pio Pico, 22,000 acres, $31,000; John Roland, 20,000
acres, $70,000; Wm. Wolf skill, 1,100 acres, $10,000; Antonio
Ignacio Abila, 19,000 acres, $14,000; Isaac Williams, $35,000;
Ricardo Vejar, $34,000.
Surely it is interesting to look back into the mists of these
old times.
We are loathe to drop the subject, and so we are going to
give some more reminiscences. Let us hear from Prof. H. D.
Barrows, long a prominent and highly respected citizen of
our city, an American, who told, once upon a time, what Los
Angeles looked like to him when he came to it eighty years
ago, and the changes that took place in it for some years
after.
Professor Barrows said :
The first .time that I ever heard that there was such a
place as Los Angeles was in the summer of 1854, at Benicia,
where, in buying some fruit, which at that time was both of
indifferent quality and scarce as well as dear, a friend told me
that Los Angeles grapes would, later, be in the market, and
that they would be far superior to any other kind of fruit then
to be had.
I arrived in Los Angeles December 12, 1854, and it has
been my home ever since. I came from San Francisco on the
steamer Goliath, in the company with the late William Wolf-
skill, the pioneer, and his nephew, John Wolfskill, the latter
still a resident of this county. The fare on the steamer at that
time was $40. Arriving at the port of San Pedro, we came
ashore on a lighter, and from thence by stage to Los Angeles,
where we arrived about noon.
The City of Los Angeles, when I first saw it, half a century
ago, was a one-story, adobe town, of less than 5,000 inhab-
.FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 75
itants, a large portion of whom were of Spanish descent, and
among whom, of course, Spanish customs and the use of the
Spanish language prevailed. There were, I think, not to ex-
ceed three or four two-story buildings in the town.
Behold, what a magical change half a century has wrought.
The population of the former Spanish pueblo or ciudad of
5,000 or less has risen to nearly 200,000 souls. The quaint,
flat-roofed whitewashed houses, clustering around or near the
Plaza, have given way to splendid fireproof, brick and steel
blocks of two, three, five and ten stories; and to picturesque,
luxurious homes extending throughout and beyond the four
square leagues of territory granted to the ancient pueblo by
the king of Spain, under whose authority its foundations were
laid by that wise Spanish governor, Don Felipe de Neve,
nearly a century and a quarter ago.
When I first came here Los Angeles had but one Roman
Catholic Church edifice, that fronting the Plaza ; and not one
Protestant or other church building. How many places of
worship there are now, of the numerous religious sects of the
city and county, I do not know.
There were then but two public schoolhouses in the city;
one, on the site of the present Bryson Block, on Spring Street ;
the other was located on the east side of Bath Street, north
of the Plaza. Today there are I know not how many large,
commodious school buildings scattered throughout the widely
extended sections of the municipality, and the new ones are
constantly being built to meet the pressing necessities of our
rapidly increasing population. The number of pupils attend-
ing the two schools in '54 probably did not exceed 200. The
number of children between the ages of five and seventeen
years who attended the public schools during the school year
1903-1904, as reported by Superintendent Foshay, was 29,072 ;
and of those who attended private schools 2,322 — making the
total number of both public and private school pupils, 31,394.
By the census of April, 1904, there were 35,411 children
between the ages of five and fifteen, and 9,812 under five years ;
or, altogether, 45,223 children of seventeen years and under
in Los Angeles one year ago. I think it a fair statement to
say that at the present time there must be at least 50,000 chil-
Modern Schools op Southern California : Pasadena
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 77
dren, and that the total population of the city must be not far
from 200,000 (1900).
We had no high, polytechnic or normal schools in those
early years. Los Angeles was so isolated from all the rest
of the vrorld, and so difficult of access, that first-class teachers
were not easily obtained; and when one was secured he or she
was retained if possible by any reasonable increase of salary.
In the early '50s I think we had but one District (Superior)
Court, presided over by Judge Benjamin Hayes, and later by
Judge Publo de la Guerra of Santa Barbara, who in turn was
succeeded by Judge Ygnacio Sepulveda, who later became
connected with the United States Embassy at the City of
Mexico. The former jurisdiction of this district included be-
sides Los Angeles, the counties of San Diego and Santa Bar-
bara. We had also a County Court, and Court of Sessions
which was also a Probate Court, over which Judge W. G.
Dryden presided for many years.
We had besides a U. S. District Court in the '50s, of which
I. S. K. Ogier was the presiding judge. This southern dis-
trict included all the southern part of the state extending to a
line just north of the City of Santa Cruz. Sessions of this
court were held alternately at Monterey and Los Angeles.
In those early days of the '50s we had no horse or steam
railroads or telegraphs. Electric roads, telephones, bicycles,
automobiles and the like, so necessary to our recent modern
life, were totally unknown.
We had no paved streets or sidewalks. We had no ele-
vators, because, first, we had no use for them, as our houses
were of but one story; and, second, because elevators were
unknown. Typewriting machines and linotype printing ma-
chines and operators of the same were unknown and un-
thought of. We had no gas, and electric lighting had not been
invented. We had, I think, but one book store, and, although
modest attempt to establish a public library was made, it soon
petered out. I know I contributed a few books to it, but I
remember that, having made a trip to the Atlantic states in
'57, when I came back I learned that the library had been
abolished and that the books, including those I had donated,
had been sold.
78 LOS ANGELES
We had neither mercantile nor savings banks during the
entire decade of the '50s, and but few money safes. All mer-
chandise not produced here was brought from San Francisco
by steamers of sail vessels, lightered at San Pedro, and
brought up to town by big mule trains of "prairie schooners."
Until vineyards and orchards were planted and came to
bearing in the upper country, after change of government,
the people of that part of the state, including the population
of the mining regions, depended on the vineyards of Los An-
geles for their fruit. I know that for several years large
shipments of mission grapes, the only kind grown here then,
were made by each steamer during the grape season. The
"vignerones" here realized all the way from one to two bits
(reales) a pound for their grapes. Other fruits besides the
"mission grape" were scarce here also, as well as in the north,
and generally of inferior quality, until improved varieties
were introduced from the eastern states. Among the enter-
prising pioneers who first brought the best standard fruits
and vegetables to Los Angeles were Dr. W. B. Osborne, Los
Angeles' first postmaster, H. C. Cardwell, 0. W. Childs and
others.
The Hollisters of Santa Barbara brought a flock of Amer-
ican improved sheep all the way from Ohio to Los Angeles,
arriving here in the early part of 1854. Los Angeles was long
known as one of the "Cow counties," as stock raising was
extensively carried on throughout Southern California for
some years under American rule, as it had been in mission
times; and it was very profitable even in spite of occasional
severe drouths, as these countries were natural grass coun-
tries, burr-clover, alfileria and wild oats being especially val-
uable indigenous grasses. Cattle did not need to be fed and
housed in winter in our mild climate, as they are required to
be fed in colder countries. Besides, the best known breeds
of horse, sheep and neat cattle stock were gradually intro-
duced. But eventually, as the admirable adaptation of South-
ern California for the perfection in growth of citrus fruits
was demonstrated, and the splendid seedless navel orange was
discovered, the immense cattle ranges were gradually con-
verted into orange and lemon orchards. The English walnut
crop has been found to be profitable here also, and thus, as we
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 79
now see, our orchards have taken the place of what were
formerly extensive cattle ranges.
In '55 the Star, established in '51 by McElroy and Lewis,
and the Southern California, published by Wheeler and Butts,
both weekly, were the only local newspapers Los Angeles
could boast of. We heard from the outside world by steamer
from San Francisco, twice a month.
When "Johnny" Temple built a theater in '58, on the site
of the present Bullard Block, our list of entertainments was
somewhat enlarged. Instead of high-toned "Horse Shows"
like that just held in Pasadena, we sometimes had bear and
bull fights, cock fights and frequent horse, mule and donkey
races, and occasionally a Spanish circus, or "maroma," and
at Christmas times we were regaled with the quaint, beauti-
ful characteristically Spanish "Pastorela," which was very
effectively and charmingly presented by a thoroughly trained
company under the direction of Don Antonio Coronel.
Of the adult people of Los Angeles who were living here
when I came here, and with whom I gradually became more or
less acquainted, very, very few are now alive, although many
of their children have grown up, and have become heads of
families.
I cannot suppress a feeling of sadness as I recall the past
and review the changes that have occurred, in persons and
scenes that now, as I look back, seem but dreams, but which
then were indeed so real. And the thought arises, if such
great changes have occurred during the past fifty years, who
can tell or even imagine what Los Angeles will be fifty years
hence, or what is in store for our children and grandchildren?
Of the present citizens of Los Angeles except the younger por-
tion, very few indeed will then be alive. And although we may
strain our eyes to peer into the future,
"And strive to see what things shall be;" —
"Events and deeds for us exist,
As figures moving in a mist;
And what approaches — bliss or woe —
We cannot tell, we may not know —
Not yet, not yet!" —
80 LOS ANGELES
Our friend, Mr. Jackson A. Graves, did not arrive in Los
Angeles at anywhere the early date that signalled the arrival
of Professor Barrows. But Mr. Graves saw the old town
change considerably, and from out the wonderful storehouse
of his remarkable memory he gives us the following recollec-
tions :
It is impossible for one who has come to Los Angeles in
recent years to imagine its appearance or condition in June.
1875. I do not know what its population was then. The total
registration of voters that year when Orange County was
still a part of Los Angeles County was but 2,900.
At this date things were decidedly primitive in Los An-
geles. The railroad was in operation from the city to Wil-
mington. All vessels were anchored outside of the present
inland harbor at San Pedro, at a point beyond Dead Man's
Island. The road to Santa Monica was being graded. It was
started by Senator John P. Jones, who intended to run it to
Independence, Inyo County. The financial crash of 1875 put
an end to this enterprise. He sold his rights of way and road,
as far as graded, to the Southern Pacific, which shortly after-
wards completed the road to Santa Monica.
From San Francisco the road was completed into Caliente.
From Los Angeles north it was built to the south portal of the
San Fernando tunnel. This tunnel and the intervening road
to Caliente over the Tehachapi was being constructed. Pas-
sengers from San Francisco had to stage it from Caliente to
San Fernando. The road, afterwards completed by the South-
ern Pacific to New Orleans, was only built as far east as
Spadra, some miles this side of Pomona.
All the business of the city was transacted within a short
distance of Temple Block. That building and the Pico House
were the only three-story buildings of any note in the city, if
I remember rightly. There was not an elevator in the town.
The Farmers and Merchants Bank was then in its own
building on North Main Street, just south of the present Cos-
mopolitan Hotel. The Los Angeles County Bank, founded by
the late J. S. Slauson, was nearly opposite the Farmers and
Merchants Bank, being located in a two-story brick building
still standing, just north of the St. Charles Hotel. The only
82 LOS ANGELES
other bank in the city, that of Temple and Workman, was
in the Temple Block at the corner of Spring and Temple
streets. The Main Street corner of the building was occu-
pied by A. Portugal, as a clothing store. Next to him, on
Main Street, Joe Williams, still alive, conducted a saloou,
"The Beeeption."
Sam Hellman, father of Maurice S. Hellman, had a book
and stationery store adjoining this saloon. South of him on
Main Street Geo. Pridham conducted a cigar stand. At the
corner of Main and Market, in the Temple Block, was the
office of Wells, Fargo and Company Express. Adjoining it on
the west Jake Phillipi, ponderous, jovial and Dutch, kept a
large and very popular beer hall.
The Pico House, opposite the Plaza on the east side of
Main Street, was the leading hotel. Honors were shared with
it by the "Bella Union," afterwards called the St. Charles. It
was also on the east side of Main Street, a few doors south
of the present Baker Block.
V. Dol conducted the Commercial Restaurant in the
Downey Block. It was a well patronized and popular dining
place. South of the Farmers and Merchants Bank Building
the "City of Paris," the leading dry goods store of the city,
was located. South of it was Billy Buffum's drinking saloon.
Adjoining it just north of the Downey Block, Dr. T. Woll-
webber, a large, portly German, had his drug store. The
doctor was a fine old gentleman, possessed, however, of an
uncontrollable temper. He afterwards kept a drug store on
the corner of Third and Broadway, where the Bradbury Build-
ing stands. When telephones came into use he would get so
mad at his that in his attempts to kick it off the wall he
kicked down patches of plaster. (What would he have done
with two telephone systems to contend with ? )
South of Wollwebber was the wholesale liquor store of
Levy & Coblentz, afterwards kept by M. Levy and Company.
Next to it Upham & Bea had a bookstore, which, for many
years afterwards, was kept by Phil Hirschfeld. Charlie Bush
had a jewelry store in the same block.
Dillon & Keneally, dry goods merchants, were located on
the east side of Main Street opposite the Temple Block. Next
PROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 83
to them were Dotter & Bradley, furniture dealers. They
afterward founded the Los Angeles Furniture Company. It
moved to a three-story brick building built for it by 0. W.
Childs and I. W. Hellman, on the east side of North Main
Street opposite the Baker Block. From there the company
moved to Judge BieknelPs building on Broadway below Sec-
ond Street, later a part of B. F. Coulter's store.
Sam Prager conducted a clothing store in the corner of the
Ducommin Block at Main and Commercial. His brother
Charles was also in business on Commercial Street near Sam
Meyer. Polaski & Goodwin, dealers in dry goods, were at the
southeast corner of Main and Commercial, where the United
States National Bank now is. The United States Hotel,
smaller in size than it is now, was then, as now, on the south-
east corner of Main and Bequena streets. South of it, in
the premises occupied by Harper, Reynolds and Company,
Riviera and Sanguinetta had a large retail grocery store.
South of them on the same side of Main Street, Eugene Ger-
main and Geo. Matfield also had a retail grocery store, under
the name of Germain and Matfield. In various portions of
the business center the Nortons, Laventhal, and E. Greenbaum
were engaged in the retail clothing business.
On the east side of Main Street nearly opposite Temple
Street, where the Lanfranco Block now stands, was a two-
story adobe building of the same name. Its upstairs was
occupied by the family of that name. On the ground floor
A. C. Chauvin had a grocery store and south of him Doctor
Heinzeman a drug store. Below him Workman Brothers had
a saddle and harness shop. One of the partners was the late
William H. Workman. He had been mayor of the city, and
its treasurer for several terms. Where the Baker Block now
stands was a one-story adobe, the former home of Don Abel
Stearns and then occupied by Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Baker,
Mrs. Baker having been the widow of Don Abel.
The erection of the Baker Block was commenced in 1875
and for years it was the finest building in Los Angeles.
The wholesale business was all done on Los Angeles Street,
and was largely confined to Hellman, Haas & Company, who
were on the northeast corner of Los Angeles and Commercial
84
LOS ANGELES
streets, and the Newmarks, who were on the west side of Los
Angeles Street, a block to the south.
Over Hellman, Haas & Company's store were a number of
rooms occupied by young unmarried business men. Among
them was Mendel Meyer, a brother of Sam Meyer. Mendel
Old Court House
Between Main and Spring, Court and Market
was an enthusiastic violinist. Coming in one night after 12
o'clock, he began to play his violin. Doors flew open and
shoes, boot-jacks and bric-a-brac were hurled at Mendel's
door. He opened it, stuck his head into the hall and greeted
his companions with : ' ' Hey, what is the matter with you
fellows? Can't a man make music in his own castle?" (A
6x8 room.) At the corner of Los Angeles and Aliso streets,
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 85
where Haas, Baruch & Co. now do business, Kalisher & War-
tenberg, dealers in hides, and old timers of long standing, were
located.
On Alameda Street north of Aliso was Don Mateo Keller's
residence and wine cellars. Juan Bernardy had similar cel-
lars on Alameda Street, but farther south.
The old courthouse stood where the Bullard Block is sit-
uated. It housed all of the county officials on the ground floor.
On the second floor were the courtrooms and judges' cham-
bers. Hon. Ygnacio Sepulveda was district judge, and
Hon. H. K. S. O'Melveny was county judge. Opposite the
courthouse, on Market Street, was a large wooden pavilion
which was used as a place of amusement, and for dancing
parties, church fairs, etc.
Where the Nadeau Hotel stands there was a one-story
adobe building on the street line. The rest of the lot was used
as a stable and stock-yard by a stage company.
Louis Roeder's wagon shop was on Spring Street south
of the stage station. The old jail stood where the Phillips
Block now is. On Spring Street, opposite Temple Block, Ben
Truman conducted the Daily Star, in a one-story adobe. Yar-
nell and Castyle had a job printing office in the Downey
Block on Temple Street, where they also got out the Mirror,
a weekly temperance publication. Out of this paper evolved
the Los Angeles Times. Billings & Smith had a livery stable
where the county jail and the adjoining building east of it are
now located. Opposite this stable in the corner of the present
county courthouse lot, was a small brick Episcopal Church.
The high school was on top of the hill where the courthouse
now stands.
Ferguson & Rose (L. J.) ran a large and fashionable livery
stable on the west side of Main Street opposite Arcadia Street.
Louis Lichtenberger had a wagon-making shop on Main Street
north of First Street, where a building owned by his heirs
and bearing his name still stands. He afterwards ran the
Philadelphia Brewery on Aliso Street, which later became the
Maier Brewing Company.
Judge E. M. Ross lived in a brick house on the east side
of Main Street opposite Third Street (Third Street did not
86 LOS ANGELES
then extend east of Main Street). Capt. C. E. Thorn lived in
the large dwelling house still standing in the rear of the Thorn
Block at the corner of Third and Main streets. Mr. Andrew
Glassell lived about where the Hoegee Company's store is
situated.
Governor John G. Downey lived in a brick building on the
west side of Main Street just north of the Van Nuys Hotel.
The hotel site was occupied by the family residence of James
G. Howard. Mr. I. W. Hellman was building his residence,
one of the best in the city, at Fourth and Main, where the
building of tbe Farmers and Merchants National Bank
stands.
Judge 'Melveny had a very attractive home at "Second
and Broadway, west side. South of his place was the resi-
dence of John M. Griffith. Next to him that of Eugene Meyer
and south of him that of Harris Newmark. The block on
Broadway, between First and Second streets, was filled with
the residences of pioneer citizens. The bill section of the
town was hardly occupied at all.
Between San Pedro Street and portions of Main Street
and the river were vineyards and orchards. Orange groves
were on Main and Spring and Broadway as far north as Sec-
ond Street. The three principal orange groves of the city
were the Wolfskill, the first one set out here, located in the
neighborhood of the Arcade Depot, and the Breswalter and
Childs groves, which were east of Main Street, at Ninth and
Tenth streets.
All of the lawyers and doctors and surveyors were housed
principally in the Temple and Downey blocks.
Judson and Gillette and W. H. J. Brooks were the only
searchers of records. John Carlin, W. J. Brodrick and Fred
Drakenfelt shared the insurance business of the community.
Butchers and bakers were scattered here and there as they
are in all towns. Fred Morsch, a good-natured German who
loved a glass of beer, was the sign painter of the town. The
lumber yards were all located on Alameda or San Pedro
streets.
The Cathedral, on Main Street south of First Street, was
in course of erection. The old Plaza Church was just as it is
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 87
now. John Jones and family occupied an adobe residence
opposite the Plaza and nearly opposite the Plaza Church.
Below Fourth Street there was only an occasional house
on any of the streets between Main and Figueroa. Agricul-
tural Park was in existence. Fairs and races were held there.
J. S. Slauson was one of the pioneers in the Figueroa Street
district. So was Judge Brunson, the Longstreets, Col. J. F.
Godfrey and a few others.
None of the streets of the city had been paved. A little
gravel from the hills was put onto some of them. In winter
the streets were a sea of mud. In summer the dust was to
some extent allayed by spasmodic sprinkling.
In 1875 certainly one-half of the community was Spanish.
Everybody knew everybody else, and the people seemed to
be one great happy family. I think I can safely say that I
knew every man, woman and child in Los Angeles within
ninety days after I got here.
Driving was one of the great daily amusements. The
well-to-do families all had their own carriages. Those who
were not so fortunate patronized the livery stables.
After one got beyond the immediate city limits one found
natural roads, good except at times of heavy rains. There
was not enough travel on them to make them rough or dusty.
The Arroyo Seco Drive was a favorite one, also a road up
the river. On Sundays and holidays in the summer time, a
drive to Santa Monica was the thing. The drive there in the
early morning, a dip in the ocean, a dinner at Eugene's and
the drive home in the cool of the afternoon, afforded one a
full day's amusement.
If the city was small and thinly populated, what of the
county?
East Los Angeles was almost unborn as yet. All that
portion of the city and much more was owned by Dr. J. S.
Griffin and his nephew, Hancock Johnson.
Beyond East Los Angeles, in the Arroyo Seco, and to
the east and west of it, there were no dwellings or improve-
ments except the dancing pavilion at the Sycamore Grove and
John Benner's slaughter house, where Garvanza is located.
liPf
<jISk1I
fcij^-v dh- * tffj dm
WBJP^g^SBBj
Building Now Covering Old Pasadena
City Hall, Library and Play Grounds — Scenes on Colorado Street and
Raymond Avenue
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 89
Lincoln Park was utterly vacant. The settlement of Pasadena
had just commenced.
Going out of East Los Angeles, by what is known as the
Adobe Eoad, the country was all open. The present sites
of South Pasadena, Alhambra and Dolgeville were sheep
pastures.
Oneonta Park was included in 1,200 acres of land known as
the "Bacon Tract," owned by H. D. Bacon. It embraced
the Raymond Hotel grounds and extended to Alhambra Road
on the south, just beyond Sierra Vista on the west and to the
center of South Pasadena on that side, and, on its eastern
side, the arroyo running south on the east side of the Ray-
mond Hotel.
East of the Bacon tract was Gen. G. Stoneman's place of
several hundred acres, mostly in vines, formerly the Myles
place, and now subdivided. Next came the Solomon Rich-
ardson place. Then the home place of Col. E. J. C. Kewen.
East of Kewen was the home of B. D. Wilson, now owned by
his daughters, Mrs. G. S. Patton and Miss Annie Wilson.
Then the Shorb ranch and the Winston home, both the prop-
erty of Mr. H. E. Huntington, except a portion of the Winston
place, which he sold to W. G. Kerckhoff, who still possesses it.
Adjoining Winston on the east was the James Foord prop-
erty, now owned by the I. N. Van Nuys estate. Then came the
Titus ranch, with its sign on the gate, "Dew Drop," now
owned by Judge Bicknell and the Bradbury estate. Titus was
an orange grower, a rival of L. J. Rose as a breeder of trot-
ting stock, and a man of sterling worth.
Next on the east were the princely possessions of L. J.
Rose, known as "Sunny Slope." Here he made a reputation
as a winemaker and as a breeder of trotting stock, winning for
himself fame throughout the world. East of him was A. B.
Chapman, and then came Santa Anita, the first property in
the county owned by E. J. Baldwin. From there on to Azusa
there was not a house in sight.
At San Gabriel there was a small settlement and another
at El Monte and at Puente. Leaving Los Angeles and going
southeast there were no habitations until you got to Downey
and Rivera.
90 LOS ANGELES
The Cienega ranch was mostly a swamp and the best duck
and snipe grounds in California. From Los Angeles to Santa
Monica was almost all open country. From Santa Monica to
Wilmington and from Agricultural Park to the ocean, in the
winter months, untold numbers of wild geese "honked" and
fed. The San Rafael Rancho, where Glendale is located, was
but sparsely settled.
The Providencia Rancho, where Burbank now is, was
owned by Doctor Burbank, who grazed it to sheep. Later be
sold it for subdivision, and built the theater of his name on
Main Street in Los Angeles.
The only street car line in Los Angeles was one that had
been built the year before by Judge R. M. Widney and his
associates, from the Plaza on Main Street, down Main Street
to Spring Street, then out Spring Street to Sixth Street and
on Sixth Street to Figueroa Street. Shortly afterward the
Main and Agricultural Park line was put into operation and
another line built to East Los Angeles.
Oil had been discovered in the Newhall district, and the
Pacific Coast Oil Company was doing considerable develop-
ment work there.
I have written this article entirely from memory, without
consulting an authority, newspaper file or public record.
Such was the foundation for the wonderful development
which has taken place in this community in thirty-five years.
Surely the population of this city in 1875 did not exceed 7,000
people, one-half of whom were native Californians. In 1900
its population had increased from 13,000 in 1880 to 101,000.
The census just taken, I am positive, will show its population
in the neighborhood of 320,000.
Predicting for the future from the past, can any human
being paint the picture as it will be thirty-five years hence?
To my mind we are yet in our infancy and our growth and
development will be more rapid in the future than it has ever
been up to the present time.
Passing reluctantly from the reminiscences of Mr. Graves,
it is recalled that the one great sensation of the old times—
that is to say, the times of forty years ago — was the cele-
brated failure of the Temple and Workman Bank. You can-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 91
not talk very long to any man or woman living now who have
been residents of Los Angeles for the past fifty years without
having them surely tell you about the time "when the Temple
and Workman Bank failed."
More recent comers to the city might be curious to know
what were the facts in this celebrated case, and in order to
satisfy legitimate curiosity of this nature, we give those facts
briefly as fellows:
In September, 1875, the Bank of California in San Fran-
cisco, supposed then to be the strongest institution on the
Pacific Coast, got into difficulty and temporarily closed its
doors. Its president, W. C. Ralston, either committed suicide
or was accidentally drowned at North Beach.
The failure of the Bank of California was felt all over the
state. In Los Angeles, the Temple and Workman Bank, a
partnership composed of T. P. F. Temple and his father-in-
law, Mr. Workman, a very wealthy landholder living at
Puente, closed its doors.
The event created a most profound sensation and threw
the community into a high state of excitement.
In the desperate effort to restore solvency to the bank,
quite a sum of money was borrowed from Newmark and Com-
pany, and more from E. J. (Lucky) Baldwin on Spring Street
property, a half interest in Cienega Rancho and thousands of
acres of the land of the Rancho de la Merced at Puente.
After a lapse of some days the bank reopened its doors,
but confidence in it had been destroyed and its depositors with-
drew their money from it. It was again forced to close and
make an assignment to Daniel Freeman and E. F. Spence.
Freeman was the largest landholder at Inglewood, and Spence
was at that time cashier of the Commercial Bank, afterward
the First National Bank of Los Angeles.
Money, however, became tighter here and throughout the
country at large. The assets of the Temple and Workman
Bank shrunk incredibly, and collections were very difficult
to make. In time the mortgages on the property of Temple
and Workman were foreclosed. There was no way of raising
money to redeem these properties, and all of them passed to
the assignees. Creditors became dissatisfied with the man-
92 LOS ANGELES
agement of Freeman and Spence, and at last a petition in
bankruptcy was filed in the United States District Court in
San Francisco.
Only a small dividend was ever made to the creditors. It
was the most disastrous financial failure that had ever oc-
curred here, and the only Los Angeles bank failure of record.
The same thing occurred in innumerable places throughout
the United States at the same time and during years imme-
diately succeeding.
CHAPTER VII
KALEIDOSCOPE OF THE YEARS
Looking backward and across the years at the growth of
Los Angeles from the time it was a sleepy pueblo, until now
when it stands as a world metropolis, beginning with the first
real awakening in 1849, and coining down to the present day,
it is as though one looked through a magical kaleidoscope.
The mere bare chronicle of the events of the past sixty-
five years is in itself sufficiently thrilling without any attempt
whatever at embellishment.
We have been at pains to make a running record of those
events, not only for the information and satisfaction of the
readers of this book, but also in order that the chronicle may
be set forth and preserved for this and future generations.
And the chronicle runneth thus :
In 1849 the first steamer touched at San Pedro, the Gold
Hunter, from San Francisco to Mazatlan. And in the same
year Temple and Alexander put on the first four-wheeled
vehicle transporting passengers between the harbor and Los
Angeles.
Captain Banning arrived in Los Angeles in 1851. He
established a rival landing at San Pedro, resulting in lively
competition between the stages. Xo time was lost transfer-
ring passengers, or on the road. In fact the trips were verita-
ble races, resulting in lively betting and much advertising for
the winners. The trip was made in 2 1 -. hours, four to six
bronchos, harness primitive, fifteen passengers, driver of team
half seas over, fare $5. Teams changed at half-way house.
At this time native Mexicans and Indians were referred
to as "Californians."
The only real hotel in Los Angeles in 1853 was the Bella
Union, a one-story building of adobe. In 1858 it was en-
93
94 LOS ANGELES
larged to two stories, on Main Street above Commercial,
where all the stages stopped and all city functions took place.
In 1850 ordinances licensed gambling places, but forbade
card playing on the street — no limit to saloons and gam-
bling places, no regulations for their management. The most
notorious resort was Nigg?r Alley (Calle de los Negros), a
thoroughfare not over forty feet wide from Aliso Street to
the Plaza — one solid block of saloons and gambling houses.
Men and women both dealing and playing, human life was
cheap and killings frequent, time lost from games resented;
'Real" Hotel of Today on Long Beach
dispatches were quick and soon forgotten; few disputes left
to court arbitration. Twenty or thirty murders a month.
Sonoratown, across the Plaza, was given over to dancing
and carousing.
Main Street was then the principal street.
The aristocratic gambling house of the time was the
Montgomery,' conducted by W. C. or "Billy" Getman, some-
time sheriff of Los Angeles County, drinks 25 cents, games
for all classes, and a billiard hall where moneyed matches
occurred. Tables and games also to accommodate small
bettors.
In 1852-54, for the purpose of raising funds, the city-owned
lands at reasonable distances were offered at $1 per acre.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 95
John G. Nichols (ex-mayor) was said to be the father of
the first white child born in Los Angeles of strictly American
parents — John Gregg Nichols, born April 24, 1851. Nichols
was again mayor in 1856-57-58.
About this time "Hancock's Survey" of the city was made.
In 1854 Common Council permitted owners with abodes
stranded to claim right of way to the nearest existing thor-
oughfare.
There were no graded streets or sidewalks. Discarded
articles were simply thrown in the streets. Dead horses on
the streets were not uncommon. There were no street lights,
except from lights in front of individual stores and saloons.
Night walkers used candles and lanterns.
The city and county both had official headquarters in a
one-story adobe building on the northwest corner of Franklin
Alley and Spring Street.
In 1853 Mayor Antonio Franco Coronel lived at Alameda
and Seventh streets. Maj. Henry Hancock, lawyer and sur-
veyor, came from New Hampshire to Los Angeles in 1852, and
by 1853 had made the second survey of the city, defining the
boundaries of the thirty-five-acre city lots. He was himself
always land poor, but retained the La Brea Rancho, which he
always thought would produce oil and is now owned by bis
son, Allan Hancock.
In 1853 George Hansen arrived. He was a surveyor and
worked with Hancock. He was also a fine student and lin-
guist, and the ownership of Elysian Park is due to his fore-
sight.
In 1883 the Farmers and Merchants Bank moved to the
southeast corner of Commercial and Main, ground formerly
owned by Jose Mascarel, and bought from him by I. W. Hell-
man in the 70s.
Newman says: "In a store near the corner of Commer-
cial and Main street, A. F. Hinchman, as administrator of
the Temple Estate, sold 18 lots, each 120 by 330 feet, on Fort
Street (Broadway), on the East and West sides, some running
through the Spring, some to Hill, for $1,050, 12 lots for $50
each and 6 corners for $75 each."
The hunting grounds for doves and quail in those days
96 LOS ANGELES
was Main to Olive and Sixth to Pico. The community was
so village like that the location of stores was not known by
street numbers but by saying "opposite Bella Union," "near
Mr. Temple's," "next express office," etc.
Stores frequently closed for few hours at midday while
people took siestas or played billiards.
Carriages were scarce — travel was chiefly by saddle
horse, or by native carretas (platform 5 by 8 feet or there-
abouts), mounted on two wheels, wheels solid and sawed out
of logs, much jolting, squeaking and general discomfort, used
for general freight carrying also, and generally pulled by
oxen.
San Bernardino County, which had been in 1853 cut off
from Los Angeles County and colonized by Mormons from
Salt Lake City, was at this time one of the chief sources of
supply for poultry, dairy supplies, etc. Transportation to
Los Angeles across the desert took three days. In summer
this was disastrous to supplies, but prices were more than rea-
sonable — eggs 15 cents a dozen, 50 cents a pair for chickens.
San Bernardino was also the source of the lumber supply.
In 1851 the first newspaper was established in Los An-
geles. It was a weekly, La Estrella de Los Angeles — The
Los Angeles Star, printed half in Spanish and half in English.
It had no telegraphic news, of course, containing only local
items and occasional news from outside brought by mail. The
uncertainty of the latter resulted in letters from San Fran-
cisco sometimes taking as long as six weeks to reach Los
Angeles.
Gold was mined in the vicinity of Los Angeles this year,
but not important in amount, the chief sources of the supply
coming from the San Gabriel and San Francisquito canyons.
Protestants first established a chapel in Los Angeles in
1852. There were two cemeteries, one on Fort Hill and an-
other on Buena Vista Street.
In 1853 there was a movement to provide public schools,
though some sort of semi-private schooling had previously
been provided, partly subsidized by city moneys. In 1854 the
city still owned no school building of its own. Stephen C.
Foster, then mayor of the city, was appointed also school
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
97
superintendent, and the first actual city school, a two-story
brick building- and known as School No. 1, was built on the
northwest corner of Spring and Second streets, location later
used for a city hall. It was where the Bryson Block now
stands. This building cost $6,000 and was opened on March
19, 1855. There were two teachers, one for boys and one for
girls.
Wells, Fargo & Company seem to have established them-
selves here in the early '50s.
n
Los Angei.ks in 18-14 Looking Eastward
In 1854 the city depended almost entirely on "Zanjas" —
x»pen ditches — for its water supply, both irrigating and do-
mestic. Some seven or eight main laterals connected to
"Zanja Madre" or mother ditch, which in turn was fed from
the river above the city for irrigating purposes. The "Zan-
jero" — water superintendent — issued permits, and the user
paid a fee based on the time used without regard to quantity.
For domestic purposes those who were near ditches helped
themselves, others were supplied by a carrier at the rate of
50 cents a week for one bucket a day, more in proportion.
This peddled water was mainly drawn from the river which
was freely used by cattle, pigs, sheep, etc., and also as a bath-
98 LOS ANGELES
ing place for both adults and children. It was also used by
passengers and vebicles fording the river in the absence of
bridges. There was supposed to be an ordinance against
washing clothes in the river, but it was generally ignored by
the native women.
In 1853 it was proposed that a pipe distributing system
be installed, but it was not favorably considered.
In 1854 the first Masonic lodge received its charter. At
this time smallpox was very prevalent, with epidemics about
every two years.
When fires occurred a bucket brigade from the nearest
zanja to the conflagration was the general method of pro-
cedure. Alarm consisted of a fusillade of pistol shots. On
account of primitive methods, fire insurance was almost unob-
tainable. The first fire insurance known to have been written
in Los Angeles was about the year 1858, at a rate of about
4 per cent for premium.
Metal money was in poor supply and much mixed. Much
foreign coinage was used and freely exchanged irrespective
of real relation of value. Mexican and United States dollars
and French or Italian 5 franc pieces, and pieces of like size,
were readily accepted everywhere as the equivalent of a dol-
lar. The output of the gold placer mines was minted into
slugs of various sizes and shapes by private circulation as
coins for all purposes.
Money lending was immensely profitable. Rates were ex-
orbitant, 10 per cent a week or more being not uncommon.
We find in Newmark's "Sixty Years in Southern California"
the following: "I recollect, for example, that the owner of
several thousand acres of land borrowed $200 at an interest
charge of 12% per cent for each week, from a resident of Los
Angeles whose family is still prominent in California, and
that when principal and interest amounted to $22,000, the
lender foreclosed and thus ingloriously came into possession
of a magnificent property."
From this it may be inferred that the sky was the limit as
far as interest rates were concerned.
The great social functions were "Fandangos," many of
which were attended by the inhabitants of the ranches round
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 99
the city for long distances, the "carretas" bringing the guests
who were often on the road all day to enable their occupants
to indulge in the pleasure of the dance the same night. So
popular did the "Fandango" become that the city fathers saw
an opportunity to make money for the city out of it, and in
1861 passed an ordinance levying a tax of $10 for a one-night
license to hold a public dance in the city limits.
In the early '50s Los Angeles was the scene of the meeting
of a very important body, the Board of Land Commissioners,
appointed from Washington to settle land claims and prepare
for the granting of patents to the various ranches and hold-
ings heretofore held under varied titles. Often titles to the
same land were vested in different people by the Mexican au-
thorities. The Land Commission completed its work in 1855.
Another gold excitement in 1855 caused by discoveries in
Kern County brought crowds of gold-seekers through Los
Angeles who came from San Francisco and the north by way
of San Pedro on their way to Kern County. Extravagant re-
ports, for which there was no real basis, kept the stream of
adventurers flowing through Los Angeles for a couple of
years, but no rich finds were ever developed.
Besides regular travel by boat in the '50s, a regular stage
line was established along the coast from San Francisco to
San Diego, by way of San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Bar-
bara and Los Angeles.
In 1854 an appropriation was made by Congress for sur-
veying and locating a public road between Los Angeles and
Salt Lake City, through San Bernardino, which led to the
establishment in 1855 of a pony express and then a stage line
known as the "Great Salt Lake Express" from Los Angeles
to Salt Lake.
Among favorite sports at this time was horse racing, fab-
ulous stakes often being wagered in lands, cattle, sheep, etc.,
as well as in money ; there were also bull and bear fights and
cock fighting.
Earthquakes seem to have been of fairly common occur-
rence about this time, but on account of the large proportion
of adobe houses — the most easilv damaged — these disturbances
100
LOS ANGELES
were probably more generally noticed and commented on than
'quakes of the same intensity would be now.
Wine making was one of the important industries. Prim-
itive methods were used, the universal method of crushing
grapes being foot power of Indians stripped to the skin with
the exception of loin cloths.
Cattle raising was precarious because of the absence of
irrigation methods and facilities ; a hot spell with sandstorms
often left thousands of dead cattle and sheep as a result.
In 1857 Los Angeles was made the point of departure for a
r<*
f m^mim^
Los Angeles About 1857
filibustering expedition captained by Henry A. Crabb, a Stock-
ton lawyer, the object being the invasion and conquest of the
northern part of Sonora. The adventurers were led on by
tales of fabulous riches. The expedition failed, and Crabb
and party were captured and executed.
The following year banditry was common, carried on by
Mexican outlaws. The formation of a vigilance committee
and a committee of safety resulted in protecting the city and
following the bandits to their strongholds. Many bandits
were caught, given summary trial before assembled citizens,
condemned, and hanged on a gallows on Fort Hill.
In 1857 the Sisters of Charity founded the first regular
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 101
hospital, the "Los Angeles Infirmary," at Bath and Alameda
streets.
In this year also the first effort to make Los Angeles a
citrus fruit center was made. Earlier attempts in a small
way resulted in about 100 bearing orange trees in Los Angeles
at that time. That year Will Wolf skill planted several thou-
sand citrus trees inside what is now the City of Los Angeles.
They thrived and yielded large crops, and others followed
suit.
In 1858 excitement was caused in Los Angeles by the ap-
pearance through the streets of a herd of camels to be used
for freighting between Los Angeles and Fort Tejon, part of
a herd purchased for such uses in the desert stretches of the
West. Even native camel drivers were imported from Egypt
and Arabia to handle the beasts.
In 1858 business became brisker. Don Abel Stearns built
the Arcadia Block, then one of the commercial marvels of the
Southwest. It was elevated above the then grade of the street
very considerably to avoid the overflow of the Los Angeles
River.
About this time O. W. Childs entered into contract with
the city to dig a zanja, not probably over one-third of a mile
long, and to take his payment in land. The land in question
took in most of the territory from Sixth to Twelfth streets, and
Main to Figueroa. As it afterwards developed, Childs se-
cured a principality in payment for a small ditch. But at the
same time he considered this acreage of small value, and he
distributed parts of it freely to relatives and charities. One
block lying approximately on Sixth to Seventh and Broadway
and Hill, he gave to the Roman Catholic Church, and later this
was the site of Saint Vincent's College.
In 1857 a large tract acquired by Phineas Banning from
Dominguez Brothers, north of San Pedro, started what was
then known as "New San Pedro," and now Wilmington, and
which took from the old San Pedro most of its shipping busi-
ness. The new port was inaugurated on October 1, 1858.
Banning also put into cultivation large acreage in that vicin-
ity, putting down a large well with a steam pump for irri-
gating.
102 LOS ANGELES
In 1859 the first effort seems to have been made to start
a public library. A regular Library Association was organ-
ized and opened headquarters and reading rooms in the Ar-
cadia Block. It acquired book collections, accepted contribu-
tions in books, periodicals, money, etc., but the library was
not strictly public, the members being initiated on payment
of a $5 fee. It eventually failed for lack of patronage.
The year 1859 was exceptionally dry, with heat waves as
late as October, followed in winter by excessive rains. On
December 4th the worst rain ever known in Southern Califor-
nia occurred. Twelve inches were precipitated in one twenty-
four hour period.
The year 1860 was notable for the institution of regular
connections with the outside world by pony express, and some
remarkable speed records for those days were made in deliv-
ering news. For example, in March, 1861, President Lincoln's
inaugural address was delivered in Los Angeles in less than
eight days from Washington. The report of the firing on
Fort Sumter, some months later, took twelve days to reach
Los Angeles.
In 1860 the first effort to establish gas works and lay pipes
for street and domestic lighting took place and the City Coun-
cil entered into a contract for this purpose, but the effort
fell through.
January 9, 1860, John G. Downey, the first governor of the
state from Los Angeles, was inaugurated.
In 1860 Phineas Banning showed wonderful enterprise by
purchasing in Leeds, England, and having shipped to San
Francisco and then to San Pedro, a steam wagon said to have
a capacity to pull a load of thirty or more tons over roads at
five miles per hour. This was the big talk of the town at that
time, and great hopes of better freight transportation were
built up. The great wagon made some successful trips around
San Francisco before being shipped down, but it was never
able to negotiate the roads between San Pedro and Wilming-
ton and Los Angeles, and the enterprise failed utterly.
In June, 1860, the Pacific and Atlantic Telegraph Com-
pany first approached citizens of Los Angeles with an offer to
connect the city by telegraph with San Francisco. The stock
104 LOS ANGELES
was readily subscribed and work was commenced to make
connection and extend a line east to Fort Yuma, but connec-
tion with San Francisco was not made until late in 1860, wben
the first messages were exchanged between Los Angeles and
San Francisco.
As late as 1860 prisoners, especially Indians, were freely
used on public works, waterworks, streets, etc., the public
officials being authorized to use prisoners as needed.
In 1861 the city was much affected by the shadows cast by
the secession of the southern states. The Los Angeles
Mounted Rifles, part of a state force of some 5,000 men, was
organized in March. When news of the firing on Sumter
reached the city many southerners at once joined the Confed-
eracy, amongst them being the famous Albert Sydney John-
ston, then a citizen of Los Angeles, and at that time in com-
mand of the Department of the Pacific. He was succeeded
by Gen. Edwin V. Sumner, and left for the South with about
100 men, via Yuma. He was later killed in the battle of Shiloh.
In February, 1861, the building of a railroad was first
voted here, and a franchise was actually granted by state leg-
islation May 17th, that year. Eastern capitalists asked $100,-
000 subscription from Los Angeles County — $50,000 from the
city — but owing to conditions brought on by the Civil war,
nothing further was done at that time.
August, 1861, Capt. Winfield Scott Hancock, who had much
to do with keeping order in this part of California and who
was one of the best known and most highly respected men in
Southern California and a born fighter, left for the Union
front accompanied by his wife, a southerner and natural sym-
pathizer with the Confederacy. They sailed from San Pedro.
In 1861 the Government established barracks and a camp
at Wilmington, called Drum Camp. Over $1,000,000 was
spent on the establishment, and it was a great help to the
community in the way of supplies extensively drawn from Los
Angeles and distributed to military posts all along the coast
and in Arizona and New Mexico.
In 1861 the "Zanjero" was an exalted post, the salary
paid being $100 a month, while the mayor and city treasurer
received only $75 and $50 respectively.
106 LOS ANGELES
About this time San Pedro and "Wilmington were used
quite extensively as fitting out posts for whalers. In 1862 and
1863 the effect of the war on currency was sharply felt in Los
Angeles. Greenbacks depreciated sharply in value, fluctuat-
ing as good and bad news from the Union side percolated
through, and at times falling as low as 35 cents value for the
$1 greenback in gold.
In April, 1863, one of the worst disasters ever affecting
Los Angeles occurred. A small steamer, the Ada Hancock,
belonging to Phineas Banning, while transporting passengers
between Wilmington and the steamer Senator lying in the
harbor preparatory to leaving for San Francisco, with its
owner and fifty other passengers on board, blew up and was
totally demolished. More than half the passengers perished,
but the owner and the rest miraculously escaped. The catas-
trophe cast a pall over the city for many a day. Many of the
dead were well-known citizens.
In 1863 there was a serious smallpox epidemic, especially
fatal amongst Mexicans and Indians, from ten to a score of
victims a day being not unusual. Panic conditions practically
prevailed for a time.
In November, 1863, all citizens were formally registered
with a view to picking out those who were able bodied and
capable of military service.
The year 1864 was a hard one in Los Angeles. Uncertainty
as to the outcome of the currency situation, and two dry win-
ters immediately preceding, sent the price of provisions and
supplies soaring. Fifteen dollars a barrel was paid for a poor
grade of flour ; 12 cents for red beans. These were enormous
prices in those days.
News of the assassination of President Lincoln reached
Los Angeles in 1865. It was received at first with considera-
bly mixed feelings, Los Angeles having had all through the
war a very strong element of southern sympathizers. But on
April 17th the Common Council of the city passed a resolution
of regret, and on the 19th, the day of the funeral, all business
was suspended and appropriate ceremonies were held in front
of the Arcadia Block. Shortly afterward Federal authorities,
under orders from Washington, made several arrests of peo-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 107
pie accused of rejoicing over or upholding the deed of as-
sassination.
In the spring of 1865, Rt. Rev. Wm. Ingraham Kip, ap-
pointed some seven years previously bishop of California for
the Episcopal Church, made his first visit to Los Angeles in
that capacity, where there already was established the nu-
cleus of that church here.
About May, 1865, one of the noted visitors to Los Angeles
was Maj.-Gen. Irwin McDowell, formerly commander of the
Army of the Potomac, but latterly in charge of the Depart-
ment of the Pacific.
In 1865 the city inaugurated a policy of selling much of
its public land in lots of about thirty-five acres at auction.
Much land was sold at $5 to $10 an acre, and at that time an
effort was made to sell the low lying area now known as
Westlake Park. No bids were obtained, even at 25 cents an
acre. This area lay unoccupied until when, in the late '80s, a
number of landholders in the vicinity suggested making a lake
and turning the area into a public recreation ground. This
suggestion was adopted as the city policy during the regime
of Mayor Workman.
In 1865 took place the beginning of a pipe distributing
water system when the existing waterworks, zanjas, etc., were
leased to private parties for operation, and they undertook to
lay the first distributing pipes through the business section,
pipes being pine logs bored and set end to end. These pipes
were continually bursting, proving very unsatisfactory.
In 1865-66 the trade of Los Angeles began to expand con-
siderably. Besides, there was opened a trade with Salt Lake
and intervening points, extending as far as points in Idaho and
Montana, some 1,400 miles, by teams.
1866. Those who had fought on both sides of the war
began to return — former residents — also many making the
trails to the West to begin life anew.
1866. Still opposition to railroads and especially to the
much mooted proposition of the Los Angeles and San Pedro
line, many of the rich and influential residents, especially of
the ranchos, arguing that the railroads would do away with
the horses and the market for barley, oats and feed.
108 LOS ANGELES
The Government abandoned Drum Barracks. This was a
real loss to the community, as it had done a very large busi-
ness as a supply depot for Government troops and posts cov-
ering a large territory.
In 1867-68 began an important industry, namely, the har-
vesting of castor beans planted and growing wild along zanjas.
For a long time the beans were shipped to San Francisco
for extraction of oil. In 1867 a small mill was started in Los
Angeles.
First laying of iron pipe for distribution of water, council
contracting for some 5,000 feet of two-inch pipe, laying of
which was completed in 1868.
In 1868 the city voted to lease the city waterworks for a
term of thirty years for $1,500 a year and the performance
of certain stipulated terms. The original franchise holders
then transferred their rights and privileges to a corporation
known as the Los Angeles City Water Company, and al-
though the franchise was vigorously fought by a section of
the citizens, the water company won its fight to continue the
franchise.
Ice, which had previously come from the San Bernardino
Mountains, and was generally famous for lack of supply when
most needed in the summer months, now began to arrive in
regular shipments by boat from the Truckee River, and was
distributed regularly by wagon from a central ice house on
Main Street.
In 1868 J. A. Hayward of San Francisco and John G.
Downey, with a capital of $100,000, opened the first regular
bank in the old Downey Block under the firm name of Hay-
ward and Company, but the bank failed for lack of patronage.
In July of the same year Hellman, Temple and Company, with
a capital of $125,000, opened a bank which was the real pioneer
of the banking institutions of the city.
In 1868, on March 24th, the citizens voted on the long time
fought over question of bonding city and county to help in the
construction of the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad. The
vote carried by a small majority, and on September 19th, the
same year, first ground was broken for the railroad, work
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 109
starting from the Wilmington end, where about a mile of
rails was laid by November.
In 1868 West Sixth Street was the most traveled highway
connecting the outside country. It was used by overland
stages, the Owens Elver Valley trade, etc.
It was in 1869 that Isaac Lankershim bought for $115,000
the San Fernando Rancho, and with other San Francisco
capitalists formed the San Fernando Farm Association, which
Lankershim, afterwards associated with I. N. Van Nuys,
farmed in a large way, some years later planting as much as
60,000 acres in wheat, much of which, on harvesting, was con-
signed to Liverpool. In 1881 the ship Parisian, from Wil-
mington to Liverpool, loaded with wheat and flour from this
ranch, foundered at sea and was lost. Most of this large ranch
is now incorporated as part of the City of Los Angeles.
One of the notable mining enterprises, with large bearing
on the prosperity of Los Angeles, was the opening of the
large Cerro Gordo lead and silver mines at Cerro Gordo, near
Owens Lake, in the Owens Valley. Renee Nadeau undertook
the difficult contract of transporting ore by large wagons and
teams across the desert and San Fernando Mountains from
"the mines to Wilmington, where it was taken by boats to San
Francisco and some to Swansea in Wales for treatment and
smelting. These ore shipments became so large that the
teaming- of them became a wonderfully organized business ;
with headquarters in Los Angeles and stations built at in-
tervals along the route to Owens Lake, the sites of many of
the stations existing as posts along the way today, and the
remains of others being still traceable though out of use for
many a long year. These Cerro Gordo mines were by far
the largest producers of silver and lead ores in California at
that time.
In 1869, under Mayor Joel Turner, the Los Angeles Board
of Education was organized, the forerunner of our modern
school system.
May 10, 1869, was hailed as a red letter day in Los An-
geles because of the completion of the Central Pacific Railroad
by the driving of the historic gold spike at Promontory Point
in LTtah. Although it gave Los Angeles no direct rail connec-
110 LOS ANGELES
tion, it helped the connection between East and West and held
ont hope of direct railway connection in the near future.
In 1869 telegraph rates from Los Angeles to San Francisco
were $1.50 for ten words, and 50 cents for additional five
words.
Los Angeles in this year registered something over 2,400
voters.
On October 26, 1869, the Los Angeles and San Pedro Rail-
road officially opened for use of the public. Everyone was in-
vited on the first day to a free ride to the harbor, with dedi-
catory ball held in the depot the same night. The depot was
then on Alameda Street, corner of what was afterwards Com-
mercial Street.
In 1870 all business activity of Los Angeles was centered
on Los Angeles Street, north of First Street, and most of it
on Main and Los Angeles streets. Spring Street was just
beginning to show life, and an agitation that year was started
on the question of "another street lamp for Spring Street,"
there being just one city light maintained on that street.
In 1870 the houses and stores of the city were numbered
preparatory to compiling the first city directory, which made
its appearance in 1871 ; 1870 also saw the construction of the
first substantial bridge across the Los Angeles River, located
where the Macy Street bridge now stands. Previous flimsy
foot bridges had been carried away by winter floods many
times, and this more pretentious bridge, built at an expense of
about $25,000, was itself broken up by floods some years later.
In 1870 also the first street sprinklers were operated on
the city streets, the council allowing the operator to collect
contributions from residents and stores along routes.
Late in the year 1870 a Frenchman, Lachenais, who had
killed a neighbor named Bell in a quarrel over water, for a
time escaped penalty, but by dropping an indiscreet remark
the crime was traced to him and the Vigilance Committee
hanged him. Some months afterwards the presiding judge
charged the grand jury to indict leaders of a lynching mob,
but the grand jury replied that if the law had previously been
faithfully executed such incidents would be unnecessary, and
refused to take any steps to bring the lynchers to the bar.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 111
In 1871 the two original banking institutions in which Hell-
man and Downey dominated, were consolidated, under the
name of the Farmers and Merchants Bank, with a capital of
half a million dollars, 25 per cent of which was called in at
the start.
This year also witnessed the first attempt to form a Los
Angeles Board of Trade, the forerunner of the present Cham-
ber of Commerce, and although organization was effected,
internal quarrels killed the institution and it soon died.
In 1871 the first steps were taken by the U. S. Government
to improve the harbor at Wilmington and San Pedro. A
Corner of Palisade Park, Santa Monica
breakwater was built between Dead Man's Island and Rattle-
snake Island.
In the same year the Southern District Agricultural So-
ciety was organized, L. J. Rose, J. Gr. Downey and others
being prominent figures in its inception. This society did
much all through the city's history to promote agriculture and
stock raising, and held annual exhibitions and trotting and
running races.
In 1871 Santa Monica first began to attract attention as a
seaside resort for the tired city man, the part of the beach
then most favored being at the mouth of Santa Monica Can-
yon, on the banks of which were the few residences and tents
then housing the inhabitants.
Also in this year, summer excursions to Santa Catalina
112 LOS ANGELES
by way of Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad to Wilming-
ton and boat to the island became first popular with a limited
number of people in Los Angeles. Occasional specially ad-
vertised excursions were run over, and even a carrier pigeon
service to Catalina was inaugurated in this year, the birds
taking about an hour to cross to or from the mainland. Racing
of these pigeons by rival owners was a popular sport, and one
bird in that year is recorded as making the trip in fifty
minutes.
In October, 1871, occurred the first recorded Chinese riot
in the city. It started by fighting between rival Chinese fac-
tions during which a police officer was wounded and a citizen
killed. Citizens roused and attacked Chinese indiscriminately,
resulting in the death by hanging and shooting of some nine-
teen Chinamen, and an attempt was made to burn the whole
Chinese quarter. Little punishment ever was meted out to
the rioters, but the Chinese government protested to the
United States Government and finally obtained a considerable
indemnity.
In 1871-2 an immense wool boom struck the country. Wool
which had previously brought 10 cents a pound was bid up
in Los Angeles to 45 cents and even 50 cents per pound for
dirty wool in the grease, just as it came from the clip, and
many large crops were bought at these figures after the first
offerings had been successfully disposed of in the East at a
profit, but on the later large shipments sales failed to ma-
terialize and large consignments were stored in Boston, much
of it being sold there in 1872 at 15 and 16 cents a pound, and
many large consignments were lost in the great Boston fire
of that year. This wool craze meant very severe losses for
many of the large Los Angeles merchants. It materially crip-
pled many of them.
In 1872 the first steps were taken to insure the extension of
the Southern Pacific Railroad, then building down the San
Joaquin Valley, through the Tehachapi Mountains and to Los
Angeles. Much of the old opposition to railroads in general
still existed in the community, and it took a hard fight to
carry the proposition, which contemplated county financial
help, in an election by the voters. But the question eventually
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 113
carried by a good majority in November of that year, and the
authorities were then in a position to negotiate the terms of
a concession with Leland, Stanford, Collis P. Huntington and
others in control of that railroad.
Fire protection had been agitated for many years, but
without definite results, and only in 1873 was the first real
Volunteer Fire Company organized by thirty-eight progres-
sive citizens, who called their organization "the 38 's," as-
sessing themselves $1 a month in membership fees for the
privilege of dragging the one solitary hose cart owned by the
organization through the dusty, uneven thoroughfares to the
scene of all reported conflagrations.
In 1873 was organized the Board of Trade, of which the
present Chamber of Commerce is a direct descendant. Incor-
porated in August of that year with an initial membership of
about 100 merchants, bankers, etc., eleven directors, admis-
sion fee of $5, and they seem to have tackled the job of boost-
ing the city and its surrounding areas right from the jump
with something of the vim and energy which have character-
ized the organization ever since. One of its first notable
achievements seems to have been the securing from Congress
of an appropriation for surveying and improving the harbor
at San Pedro and Wilmington. Some few years later there
was a pause in its activities due to discouragement caused by
drouths, bank failures, etc., but it revived, and its work has
been practically continuous since.
In 1873 operations were started in the first woolen mill by
Barnard Brothers. Heretofore all wool raised in the country
had been shipped out and woolen goods imported.
In December, 1873, came a package through Los Angeles
from Washington, D. C, addressed to L. C. Tibbetts of River-
side containing two small orange trees originally received in
Washington from Bahia, Brazil, to be grown and tested by
Tibbetts for the information of the U. S. Agricultural De-
partment. These turned out to be the two original orange
trees from which has sprung the whole navel orange industry
which has meant so much to Los Angeles and to all Southern
California and, indeed, to all California.
In 1874 a bandit, Tiburcio Vasquez, who had already had
114 LOS ANGELES
a spectacular career in the northern end of the state, invaded
the vicinity of Los Angeles with a few followers. Some dar-
ing holdups with enforced contributions, etc., resulted. The
bandits kept the whole city and countryside stirred up, and
posses sent out were outwitted time after time, but Vasquez
was eventually corraled and captured with some of his fol-
lowers, others escaping to the hills. He was turned over to
the authorities of San Jose, where he was tried for murder,
convicted and hanged early in 1875. The doings and capture
of Vasquez were among the striking events of this period.
In 1874 the first street railroad was opened and operated
in the city. It was built under a fifty-year franchise secured
in 1869. It ran from the Plaza to Pearl (Figueroa) and Sixth
streets, going by way of Main, Spring, First, Fort, Fourth,
Hill, Fifth, Olive and Sixth. Rolling stock consisted of two
one-horse cars, small platform, each end of single track with
turn-out at the midway point. Often in winter, when mud was
deep, the trip from one end of the line to the other consumed
an hour. Waiting for a car was no joke, and one car was
often forced to wait at the passing point many long weary
minutes for the belated twin car from the other end. The
driver was also conductor, and stops for passengers were by
no means confined to street corners. Pick 'em up where you
meet 'em — single fares 10 cents, 4 for 25 cents, 20 for $1.
Tickets supposed to be bought at one of two designated stores
in town instead of paying fares on cars. Soon afterwards the
Main Street line started from Temple Block to Washington
Gardens, and this was extended shortly after to Jefferson and
out Jefferson to Wesley (University) Avenue and Agricul-
tural Park to accommodate the patrons of the race course.
This was quite a pretentious bit of street railroad, but the
equipment and mode of travel were much the same as on
the earlier line. Not until 1887 were there any '"early bird"
cars running before 6 A. M., or "owl" cars operating after
10 P. M.
July, 1874, the Los Angeles County Bank was started with
a capital of $300,000. In 1878 the bank moved into the bank-
ing room vacated by the Temple and Workman bank after its
failure.
116 LOS ANGELES
About this time Stephen M. White came to Los Angeles.
He was elected district attorney in 1882, state senator in 1886,
and became president of the Senate and then acting lieutenant
governor. He was later elected U. S. Senator. As senator
in Congress he took a decisive stand against C. P. Huntington
in the matter of the selection of a site for the harbor for Los
Angeles. The fight then made had a decisive influence when
the final effort was made to locate the harbor at San Pedro.
Senator White died on February 21, 1901. A statue to his
memory, unveiled on December 11, 1908, stands today on the
Broadway side of the county courthouse.
In January, 1875, the Commercial Bank was organized
(five years later changed to the First National Bank). Most
of the organizers of this bank were San Diego men, though
L. J. Rose and two or three others were from Los Angeles.
E. F. Spence was first cashier. J. M. Elliott, cashier in 1885,
afterwards for so many years president.
In April, 1875, E. J. (Lucky) Baldwin bought the Santa
Anita Rancho, having just sold his large interest in the Ophir
mines of the Comstock for a sum reputed to be over $5,000,000.
The price then paid by him for the ranch was $200,000.
In June, 1875, J. A. Graves, a young attorney, came to Los
Angeles and practiced law by himself and in partnership with
other well-known attorneys for many years. He operated the
first typewriter used in this city. In 1903 he became vice
president of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank, and
is now its president.
California enjoyed wonderful prosperity in 1875. The
influence of the riches of the Comstock mines, though mainly
affecting San Francisco, extended also to Los Angeles. The
natural resources of Southern California were gradually be-
ing uncovered and developed, and much subdivision of large
tracts in the vicinity of the city was being undertaken and
many little outlying towns and settlements were now getting
their start.
The wonderful prosperity of San Francisco at this time
was primarily due to the immense riches being shipped there
from the Comstock mines. All San Francisco was living in
a financial elysium. Speculation was rife and everybody took
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 117
a hand. One of the chief factors in keeping up this state of
things in the northern city was W. C. Ralston, then president
of the Bank of California, who was freely lending the vast
resources of that institution for speculative purposes, entirely
regardless of recognized hanking principles. His example
was an incitement to others until all San Francisco was in a
mad financial whirl. Naturally, this state of affairs could not
continue, and the inevitable happened. In October, 1875, the
Bank of California closed its doors, and a few days later
Ralston was drowned at North Beach, whether by accident or
suicide has never been definitely determined. As a direct
result of this, the Temple and Workman Bank of Los Angeles
suspended. The greatest depression overtook business, and
the bottom seemed to drop out of everything. The bank had
ample resources, but its assets could not be quickly realized on
under the panic conditions which existed. Under the circum-
stances E. J. Baldwin, recognized at the time as the big in-
dividual ready money source of Southern California, was
applied to as most likely to be able to tide over the bank. He
proved willing to advance $210,000 in consideration of a blan-
ket mortgage on the real estate holdings of Temple and Work-
man, to which was to be added a mortgage on some 2,200 acres
of land owned by one Mattias Sanchez, an intimate friend of
Temple and Workman. This was finally agreed to, but proved
only a temporary expedient, the mortgages eventually being
foreclosed in Baldwin's favor. Temple died practically pen-
niless, Workman soon passed away, and Sanchez died prac-
tically ruined.
Regarding the domestic gas supply. In the early days
of the supply the rate was $10 per 1,000 cubic feet. There was
great rejoicing among householders when this was twice de-
creased to $7.50 and then to $6.75. But in 1876 citizens grew
restive under these charges and a threatened boycott was
resorted to unless charges were again reduced, which they
were, as a result, to $6 a thousand.
On Sunday, April 9, 1876, the Cathedral of Santa Vibiana,
commenced in 1871, was first opened for public services.
In September, 1876, was completed a piece of engineering
work which has meant much to the City of Los Angeles,
118 LOS ANGELES
namely, the long tunnel of the Southern Pacific Railroad Com-
pany through the San Fernando Mountains, length 6,940 feet.
The need of this tunnel had been the main obstacle in the way
of making the Southern Pacific Railroad connection from San
Francisco and Sacramento to Los Angeles. Great was the re-
joicing over the completion of this tunnel and the later exten-
sion through it and to Los Angeles of the railroad. It was
not long before much dissatisfaction was voiced regarding the
arbitrary methods used by the railroad in handling the busi-
ness to and from the city, there being no railroad commission
existing in those days, the governing rule of the freight and
passenger departments seemed to be "all that traffic would
bear. ' '
An unprecedented dry season in 1876-77 almost totally de-
stroyed the then existing large sheep industry of Southern
California.
The years 1877-80 were hard and a dull business period
prevailed. It gradually gave place to more substantial con-
ditions. It was in 1877 that William Mulholland, since famous
as builder of the aqueduct, became first connected with the Los
Angeles Water Company.
In 1879 I. N. Van Nuys acquired the site of the present
Van Nuys Building at Seventh and Spring streets for approx-
imately $7,000, there being on the lots at the time a house
said to have been alone worth the amount.
In 1879 some 400 acres of land were donated by several
public spirited citizens for the purpose of starting a Methodist
college, and in 1880 the first building of the college was com-
pleted on Wesley Avenue. This institution has since devel-
oped into the University of Southern California.
Business, which until this time had clung close to the
vicinity of the Plaza, began in the early '80s to definitely
creep southward, having at this time reached almost to Sec-
ond Street. The Baker Block at North Main and Arcadia was
still the central building and business pivot of the town. The
first cement pavement was laid at this time on North Main
Street and round the Temple Block.
In 1880 came Albert Kinney.
In 1881 a definite effort was made to bring about the par-
Relics op the Olden Days
Upper: The Plaza Mission. Lower: Workman's Ranches
120 LOS ANGELES
tition of California into two distinct states, Northern and
Southern California, and a convention was formally called
which met on September 8, 1881. Although the prevailing
opinion was that state division was inevitable, the convention
finally came to the conclusion that the time to bring it about
was not propitious.
In 1881 Los Angeles celebrated her centenary. Popula-
tion, 12,000. The well-known business of Hamburger's was
established here in 1881 under the name of A. Hamburger and
Sons, for a time located on Main Street near Requena, after-
wards occupying the Phillips Block at Spring and Franklin
streets specially built for them, finally moving in 1908 to their
present quarters on Broadway and Eighth Street.
On December 4, 1881, the Daily Time.s was first issued, six
days a week.
In the winter of 1881 Helen Hunt Jackson came to Los
Angeles as an incident in her exploration of the Southwest
in search of facts pertaining to the Indians, and on leaving
Southern California she did much to bring about a realiza-
tion of its charm and beauty through articles published in the
Century Magazine.
In 1882 the first telephones in Los Angeles.
In the same year Col. Harrison Gray Otis joined forces
with the then publishers and became manager of the Daily
Times and the Weekly Mirror.
Eeni Nadeau, after purchasing the southeast corner of
First and Spring streets, erected on the site the Hotel Nadeau,
notable as the first four-story structure in the city and a thor-
oughly up-to-date hostelry, for many years after the social
and business center of Los Angeles.
In Newmark's History is found the following: "In 1882,
F. H. Howland, representing the Brush Electric Lighting
Company, made an energetic canvass in Los Angeles for the
introduction of the electric light ; and by the end of the third
week in August forty or more arc lamps had been ordered by
business houses and private individuals. He soon proposed
to light the city by seven towers or spliced masts — each about
150 feet high — to be erected within an area bounded by the
Plaza, Seventh, Charity and Main streets. The seven masts
Los Angeles in the '£
Upper View Centers in Old Court House
122 LOS ANGELES
were to cast $7,000 a year, or somewhat more than was then
being paid for gas. This proposition was accepted by the
council, popular opinion being that it was 'the best advertise-
ment that Los Angeles could have'; and when Howland, a
week later, offered to add three or four masts, there was
considerable satisfaction that Los Angeles was to be brought
into the line of progress. On the evening of December 31,
the city was first lighted by electricity, when Mayor Tober-
man touched the button that turned on the mysterious cur-
rent. Howland was opposed by the gas company and by many
who advanced the most ridiculous objections. Electric light,
it was claimed, attracted bugs, contributed to blindness and
had a bad effect on ladies' complexions!"
In May, 1883, the Los Angeles Board of Education sold
the northwest corner of Spring and Second streets, 120 by
125, to the city for $31,000, the city using the inside 60 feet
on which to erect a municipal building, and during the big
boom in 1887 sold a corner 60 feet to John Bryson, senior,
for $120,000. The Board of Education, in turn, out of the
money received from the sale to the city, bought a strip of
land between Fifth and Sixth streets running through Broad-
way to Spring, with a frontage of 120 feet on each street,
paying for the strip $12,500. This strip is now known as Mer-
cantile Place and is at the present writing being sold by the
Board of Education at the reported price of about $1,000,000.
It can be seen that these two separate agencies of the city
have taken full advantage of the respective good times to
feather their nests for the advantage of the city.
August 22, 1883, ordinance passed creating Elysian Park.
The citrus industry, which meant and still means so much
to Southern California and Los Angeles, developed steadily
up to the middle '80s, when scale troubles developed to such
an alarming extent that the whole industry took a slump.
Science had failed to find a remedy for the devastating scale,
and hope of the survival of the industry was almost given up
until the importation in 1889 of the insect commonly known
as the "lady-bug." This effective little enemy of the scale
was brought from Australia under the auspices of the United
States Department of Agriculture, and after being cultivated
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 123
in the laboratories and distributed to the ranches, so quickly
and efficiently performed its duty on the scale that hope among
the citrus growers quickly revived, and this little insect has
proved to be worth millions of dollars to Southern California,
and is today one of the best friends of the Southwest.
One of the institutions at this time having its effect on the
physical and social life of the city was the Los Angeles Ath-
letic Club, first organized in 1879, and now a fast growing in-
stitution.
In 1884 Los Angeles installed its first street car line un-
der the cable system, and in 1885 showed further progress
by initiating the first electric street car line. About the
same time the first ostrich farm was opened in the neighbor-
hood or what is now Tropico. But the birds were kept more
as a show and amusement feature than for the raising of
feathers. However, in 1887, Edwin Cawston started a really
commercial venture in the growing of ostrich plumes, import-
ing his birds from South Africa. And though many of the
birds were lost by death on the long journey, he contrived to
land some forty in Los Angeles which formed the nucleus of
the well-known Cawston Ostrich Farm, which was located at
various places in the city from time to time and finally set-
tled permanently at a site between Los Angeles and Pasadena.
On November 25, 1885, the Santa Fe Railroad ran its first
train into the City of Los Angeles. Its own line was not then
completed, but it made temporary arrangements to use the
tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad from San Bernardino.
This gave Los Angeles two direct railroad connections with
the East, and competition becoming keen, a rate war devel-
oped as a natural consequence. This rate war was far reach-
ing in its consequence. In the struggle for passenger busi-
ness in 1886-87 the competing roads bid against one another
so keenly for passenger business that round trip tickets from
Chicago and Missouri River points to Los Angeles could be
bought for as low as $15, and many tales by residents of the
city of that date lead to the belief that still deeper cuts were
made, and it has even been reported that at the high tide of
the war passengers were persuaded to make the journey on
one or the other of the roads without paying anything at all
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 125
for the privilege. Some reports went so far as to say that
the railroads in a few instances paid a slight bonus to obtain
such passengers.
The result of all this competition for business was that
large numbers of eastern people took advantage of the
low rates to visit this district and were impressed with the
country, its climate and possibilities, and looked round for an
opportunity to make a temporary investment of a large or
small amount.
This started what is generally known as the "Big Boom"
of Southern California, which developed into a veritable craze
— a mania of speculation. It made of staid business men spec-
tacular promoters, created millionaires by the dozen, and gen-
erally created fictitious values which, after the bursting of the
bubble, left a train of disastrous conditions which it took
many a long year to correct. It was not only Los Angeles, but
all of Southern California, that was affected by this real
estate boom. Acreage was bought by the promoter, subdi-
vided and laid out over night in lots irrespective of any
natural demand for a town or community at that particular
place, and when the lots were placed on the market they were
eagerly snapped up by the so-called investor and by the man
who depended on the boom conditions to give him a large
profit by a re-sale of his lot within a short time.
Relics of these old boom subdivisions are to be met with
all over Southern California. Some of the communities were
entirely abandoned and have gone back into wheat and barley
fields, some still existing as little villages for whose existence
there is no particular necessity, and where lots can be bought
today for less than the price at which they changed hands in
the boom days of 1887.
As an example of the rapid advance in rents caused by
the demand for real estate offices during the boom, this ex-
tract taken from Guinn's "History of California" will serve
as an illustration :
"An old one story wooden building on Spring street, south
of First, that before the boom might have brought its owner
a rental of $50 per month, was subdivided into stalls after
the usual method and rented at from $75 to $150 per month
Main Street in the '80s Looking North and Northeast
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 127
for each stall, prices varying as you receded from the front
entrance. The rental of the building paid the landlord an
income of about $1,000 a month. The building was so out of
repair that the enterprising boomers who occupied it during
a rain storm were compelled to hold umbrellas over them-
selves and their customers while negotiating a deal in climate
and corner lots."
Such a boom had to run its. course and quickly attain its
inevitable end, and by 1888 the real estate speculator for the
buying end of a deal was a raris avis. Many were the pre-
dictions of dire disaster as to the future of the city from
the pessimistically inclined. However, more than the burst-
ing of the boom was necessary to kill a city of destiny, and
although the city and the whole surrounding country suffered
for many a long year from the results of ill-advised specula-
tion, the injury was in no way permanent. In fact, one good
resulted. In 1888-9 building materials being cheap, the own-
ers of real estate in the city who had bought during the boom
at high prices, conceived it to be their best business policy
to build on their investments in order to create an income,
and this resulted in a building boom, in those years, of con-
siderable magnitude.
During the railroad rate war, freight rates tumbled as well-
as passenger rates and there are authentic instances of ship-
ments from Chicago of coal at $1 per ton. A carload of
willow ware from New York with a freight bill for the car of
$8.35. Of a train of Liverpool salt shipped from New York
at 60 cents a ton.
Prof. T. S. C. Lowe, later a well-known figure in Los An-
geles and formerly with the balloon section of the Union Army
during the Civil war, startled the city in the late '80s by
making the claim that he could manufacture gas from water
at a cost said to be about 10 cents per 1,000 cubic feet, and
distribute the same at a cost to the merchants and house-
holders of a dollar per thousand or less. Although the exist-
ing gas company had by that time reduced its price to $1.50
per thousand feet, the prospective price of $1 and the profits
to be made at that figure was a temptation not to be resisted,
and a franchise was obtained, pipes laid, and a manufacturing
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 129
plant established and gas produced. But the cost of produc-
tion turned out to be more than a dollar per thousand, the
advertised selling' price. This company and its business were
eventually absorbed by the Los Angeles Gas Company.
Also in the late '80s Senator Stanford and the Southern
Pacific officials completed with the city the long-discussed
details of the promised Central Southern Pacific Station, and
built what was then and afterwards known as the Arcade Sta-
tion, on a part of the Wolfskill tract facing on Alameda, be-
tween Fourth and Fifth streets, on practically the site now
occupied by that company's main station.
In 1887 the original Occidental College was established by
a group of Presbyterian clergymen on donated land ; the main
college building being completed in the following year and
destroyed by fire in 1896. At this period of the city's history
there seemed to have been great liberality on the part of
citizens in the matter of donating lands for any worthy object.
In the same year Santa Catalina Island was sold to an
English syndicate to be developed for its minerals, but min-
eral values failing to develop, as anticipated, the English
syndicate refused to complete the deal, and in 1892 finally
dropped any claim to the island.
Further contributing factors to the 1887 "Boom," now
famous in history, was the wide advertising of Southern Cali-
fornia, its climate and products at the Centennial Exposition
held in Philadelphia, and the continued advertising efforts of
the Board of Trade and the Chamber of Commerce.
Office hours of the boom real estate agents were by no
means confined to daylight, but offices were open and busy
far into the night. Properties frequently changed hands at
advanced prices several times in twenty-four hours.
It is not to be supposed that all the mushroom towns laid
out by the promoters in this period were failures, as many
of the now prosperous smaller towns in Southern California
are the result of locations planted in that year. But many
of the centers that were started utterly collapsed and the
companies operating them failed miserably. "Where such
companies had issued clear titles to lots bought for cash and
the large acreage eventuallv reverted to its original owners
130 LOS ANGELES
because of failure of the company, these small deeded lots
scattered through the acreage remained for many years a
matter hard to clear up. In many instances a cement con-
tractor had got in touch with a lot owner and persuaded him
to have a cement sidewalk laid in front of his lot as an added
feature to his holdings. When the acreage reverted to farm
land again a 25 or 50 foot section of cement sidewalk was not
an uncommon sight in the middle of a wheatfield.
On the day when a new subdivision was to be put on the
market the promoters would organize processions headed by
bands of doubtful quality, and would arrange an immense
barbecue on the lands to which all were invited, and every
method of advertising, honest and dishonest, were employed,
to make a quick clean-up sale of the subdivision. When the
opening sale of what was considered a particularly desirable
subdivision was announced, lines would frequently be formed
in front of the office two or three days in advance of the
opening day, so eager was the rush to obtain choice locations
and desirable corners. The men paid to hold the places in
these lines often received large fees for their services, it
being cited that $100 as a fee for such service was not un-
common.
So greedy for large profits were many of the operating
syndicates that frequently chances for large fortunes were
turned down in the expectation of larger offers.
. The schemes evolved to boost the selling of the various
tracts were so numerous and so shady that there is hardly
any scheme that the mind of man can conceive that was not
broached and put into operation at that time. As an instance
of what the boom was doing on three separate days near its
crest the real estate transfers were valued at $660,000, $730,-
000 and $930,000.
Mental poise was conspicuous by its absence; capitalists
on paper were as thick as bees; millionaires of a day were
mixing with the crowds in ever-increasing numbers. Boom
values do not seem to have increased in anything like the
same proportions in the business and near-in sections of town
as they did in the outlying districts, and many investments
Los Angeles Views in the Early '80s
Upper : South on Olive. Lower : First and Spring Streets, Looking
Toward Temple Street
132 LOS ANGELES
made at that time on inside property have since proved highly
profitable to investors.
The Southern Pacific Railroad had formally inaugurated
its through service on August 20, 1887, the first through
trains in both directions meeting at Santa Barbara, where a
fete was held.
In this year the first regular street was paved on Main
Street. Prior to that time streets had been natural dirt
tracks.
In November of this year public-spirited citizens donated
to the United States Government some 600 acres between the
city and the seat which was accepted by the Government as a
site for a National Home for disabled volunteer soldiers.
The grounds were at once laid out, and the first unit directed
of what is not the Old Soldiers Home at Sawtelle. In May
of 1888, a commission was chosen to draw up a new charter
for the City of Los Angeles, and the result was finally con-
firmed by the Legislature of the state early in 1889.
Although the boom had been disastrous to the city in many
ways, one cannot escape the conviction that it was the turning
point between the existence of a village gone to sleep again
and the beginning of a progressive, bustling city.
From 1888-90 building was active, paving of streets pro-
gressing, sewer systems extended all over the business
district and out to Tenth Street, and then through large bond
issues, was projected to cover the whole residence sections of
the city. The new City Hall on South Broadway and the
County Courthouse on the hill on North Broadway were both
started at this time. The street car railways were con-
solidated and a cable system covering a large area of the city
inaugurated. In 1890 an electric street car system was built
which was eventually to gobble up the cable system and give
the city an entirely electric service. However, the last horse
car did not disappear from the city until 1897.
In 1888 people were buoyed up by the prospect of a new
transcontinental railroad fi'om Salt Lake City, supposed to
be in connection with the Union Pacific. A franchise was
secured and the railroad was built south from Salt Lake
City through Utah, but connection was never completed. The
Los Angeles Thirty Years Ago and Today
Upper View: West on Sixth Street from Main, in the late
Lower: Same View in 1920
134 LOS ANGELES
unused franchise along the east bank of the Los Angeles
River was taken up by other parties and a system completed
in 1891 between Pasadena and San Pedro through Los An-
geles, the system being called the Terminal. This system was
bought in 1900 by Senator W. A. Clark, who used it as the
nucleus for the now existing "Salt Lake Railroad."
In 1889-90 the moral aspects of the city seem to have been
more carefully considered — gambling houses were closed,
saloons compelled by ordinance to close on Sunday, and it
The A. W. Francisco Place at Ninth and Figtjeeoa Street
generally came to be recognized that the future prosperity of
the city and decent moral standards must run hand in hand.
In 1888 the subject of state division was again raised, but
enthusiasm seemed to have died down and it received little
support in the southern end of the state. It was in 1888 that
the widening of Fort Street from Second to Ninth streets
was inaugurated, causing the change of name of that street
to Broadway. Much opposition was shown at the time to
widening the street because of the lack of vision of the re-
quirements of the future city.
The Santa Fe Railroad branch connecting Los Angeles
with San Diego was completed and opened in 1891.
PROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 135
On January 1, 1889, the first annual Pasadena Rose Tour-
nament was held.
In 1889 the southern half of Los Angeles County was
authorized to split from the mother country and Orange
County founded. This split had been advocated for many
years chiefly on the ground that Los Angeles, the county seat,
was too far away from many of the outlying sections of the
county.
As a result of the visit to Los Angeles and Southern Cali-
fornia in 1890 of Charles Dudley Warner, then editor of
Harpers' Magazine, the Harpers later published his book,
"Our Italy" — an appreciation of Southern California, its cli-
mate, resources, etc., and a well drawn comparison between
the Southern California country and countries with similar
climatic conditions in Southern Europe. The book caused
much comment, especially in the East, and turned many eyes
in the direction of Southern California.
In 1890-91 Hollenbeck Park was donated to the city by
William H. Workman and Mrs. J. E. Hollenbeck in the pro-
portion respectively of two-thirds and one-third. It was first
suggested that the park be named the Workman-Hollenbeck
Park, but the modesty of Mr. Workman insisted on the elimi-
nation of his name. About the same time Mrs. Hollenbeck
donated ground and created a liberal endowment for the Hol-
lenbeck Home for Aged People, almost adjoining the park on
the west.
The Friday Morning Club, a women's organization and
since a social force in the city, was organized in 1891, building
its present club house in 1899.
In 1892 E. L. Doheny and others, prospecting for oil in
the western residence section of the city at a depth of some 150
feet, struck the black fluid and started an oil excitement in
the city which attained considerable proportions. Between
then and the year 1900 some 1,300 oil wells were drilled
within the city limits, and though none of them were large
yielders individually, the aggregate oil output was very con-
siderable. Development elsewhere in the state produced an
overproduction which, together with other causes, started a
rapid decline in the price of oil. In 1900 oil was $1 a barrel,
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FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 137
and in 1904 it dropped to 15 cents a barrel. As is the case
wherever oil excitement obtains, Los Angeles was afflicted
with an overabundance of incorporated oil companies. Much
irresponsible and fraudulent oil stock was sold. Much money
was made and much was lost, and the losses largely fell on
those least able to support it.
Showing that the general prosperity of the city was not
overly affected by the hard times referred to, the following-
table of bank clearings for the years indicated are instructive :
1892, $39,000,000 (year before the panic) ; 1893, $45,000,000 ;
1894, $44,000,000; 1895, $57,000,000; 1896, $61,000,000.
In 1894 the Chamber of Commerce moved its headquarters
and permanent exhibit to Fourth and Broadway, from which
a most active campaign for the building up of Los Angeles
and Southern California in general was conducted. Later the
Chamber of Commerce moved to its present location on
Broadway between First and Second streets in a building
specially erected for its use. In 1892-93 the Los Angeles
Chamber of Commerce was the leading factor in exploiting
Southern California at the great Columbian Exposition in
Chicago.
1892-96 witnessed a brisk fight for appropriation from
Congress to locate and start the harbor.
The Belgian hare craze struck Los Angeles in the late '90s.
An impression got abroad that Belgian hare meat was
superior to anything else and that it could be turned out at
a small proportion of the cost of other meats. As the im-
pression grew, everyone started the industry in his back yard.
From the growing of hares for meat to the raising of fancy
stock for breeding purposes was the next step, and fancy
rabbits quoted at $100 to $1,000 each were thick all over town,
and a common topic of conversation.
The impression prevailed that it was impossible for the
supply to outrun the demand, as there was supposed to be a
world market for all that could be pi'odueed, but it was only
a comparatively short time until the supply was super-
abundant and the demand practically nil. Thus the craze
dropped from sight and into history.
In 1892 Prof. T. S. C. Lowe, previously referred to in
138 LOS ANGELES
connection with gas enterprises, began the building of a rail-
road up a mountain back of Pasadena, afterwards and since
known as Mount Lowe. The road was formally opened to the
public in 1893, and in 1894 the Mount Lowe Astronomical
Observatory was built.
In 1894 Los Angeles was suffering from depression caused
by the panic depressions of the previous year, and was
casting round for a method of overcoming general apathy,
The Astronomical Observatory
and hit upon the plan of holding an annual event in the spring
to be known as "La Fiesta de Los Angeles." The Fiesta
was in the nature of a general carnival, with processions,
decorations and the general carnival spirit in evidence. And,
as an annual event, it did much to center attention on the
city from the outside and to keep the spirit of co-operation
alive within the city itself.
In 1894 the Ebell Club was organized.
In 1896 Gen. M. H. Sherman and E. P. Clark, brothers-in-
law, laid the foundation of the present unequaled electric
interurban car system enjoyed by Los Angeles. In that year
the whole steam railroad was electricized between Los An-
geles and Santa Monica and building was started on an elec-
tric road to Pasadena. The system of electric interurban
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 139
transportation then started by these men lias been increased
until it covers points in Southern California as much as
eighty miles out from the city.
In this same year Arthur Letts, with only a few hundred
dollars, bought a small bankrupt stock of goods, located his
store at the corner of Fourth and Broadway and so started
the career which has meant so much in the upbuilding of the
modern Los Angeles.
In 1896 Griffith Park was presented to the city by Col.
Main Street Looking North in 1898
Griffith J. Griffith, an expanse of over 3,000 acres, one of the
most magnificent gifts ever presented to a city by an indi-
vidual.
In 1898-99 came the Spanish-American war, in which citi-
zens of Los Angeles bore their full share. Col. Harrison
Gray Otis of the Los Angeles Times was appointed brigadier
general of the United States Volunteers by President Mc-
Kinley and was given an important command in the Philip-
pines.
In 1899, after a year or more of negotiation, the city en-
tered into an arrangement to buy the plant of the City Water
140 LOS ANGELES
Company, and, in August of that year, the question of issuing
$2,000,000 worth of bonds for the purchase and extension of
the system, when submitted to the vote of the people, was
carried overwhelmingly. The water works were taken over
by the municipality under a commission of five appointed for
its management.
For several years prior to 1908 various mercantile bodies
of the city had been in constant dispute with the railroads,
chiefly the Southern Pacific, on the matter of equalizing and
adjusting rates to and from the San Joaquin Valley and con-
tiguous territory, so that Los Angeles would have a fair
chance of competing in mutual territory with San Francisco
as a point of supply. Through the Railroad Commission very
considerable concessions were secured, followed by still fur-
ther reductions in 1910 and 1912.
In the first years of the century Henry E. Huntington
gradually began transferring his large interests from San
Francisco to Los Angeles, and commenced the development of
interurban electric systems. In 1902 he completed the road
to Long Beach, and in 1903 to Monrovia and Whittier. In
latter years he erected the building at Sixth and Main streets,
known as the Huntington or Pacific Electric Building, the
ground floor of which was designed as a Union Terminal for
the various electric lines under his management.
In 1901, due to the growth of the western residence dis-
tricts of the city, and to the obstacle presented by Bunker Hill,
it became necessary to make a connection, and the first of the
tunnels was constructed through that hill on Third Street.
In 1902 the first commercial wireless system out of Los
Angeles was established between the city and Santa Catalina
Island.
In 1903 a Southwest Society was founded as a branch of
the Archaeological Institute of America, whose headquarters
were in Boston, but rapidly outgrowing the parent organiza-
tion in membership, it withdrew its affiliation in 1913 and
devoted its entire energy and funds to the furtherance of the
Southwest Museum which the society had founded in 1907.
In 1905 public spirited citizens, ashamed of the mean
quarters occupied by the postoffice and Federal Building, sub-
142 LOS ANGELES
scribed funds necessary to the purchase of the site now
occupied by the Federal Building on Temple, Main and New
High streets, and presented the same to the United States
Government. An appropriation of $800,000 by Congress was
inadequate for the building designed, and it was not until
1907 that the difficulty was overcome by the sale of the old
site at Main and Winston streets.
In 1905 the Los Angeles, San Pedro and Salt Lake Rail-
road was completed.
On October 1, 1910, the Times Building on First and
Broadway was blown up by dynamite with criminal intent as
the result of a conspiracy fomented by radical elements.
Twenty-one lives were lost in the explosion, and the building
and plant totally destroyed.
The foul deed created great excitement and the sensation
which was country wide. The perpetrators of the crime were
eventually run down and the two main perpetrators and some
of their dupes convicted and sentenced.
In 1907 a comprehensive plan for civic betterment for the
development of a civic center, widening of streets, and the
foundation for a general city plan were drawn up by archi-
tect Charles Mulford Robinson, under appropriation author-
ized by the city for the purpose. So far this plan has not
been carried out but is being considered in conjunction with
other plans submitted by architects and city planning bodies,
and no doubt a comprehensive system will be evolved on
Avhich the future growth of the city will be built.
In 1909 the "Shoestring Strip" connecting Los Angeles
with San Pedro and Wilmington was annexed to the city, com-
pleting the consolidation of the city and its harbor.
The actual consolidation under one municipality of Los
Angeles, San Pedro and Wilmington came up in 1909, a
matter that called for a great deal of preliminary negotia-
tion, during which Los Angeles pledged herself to obtain for
the harbor districts equal freight advantages with the larger
city, to spend specified amounts on harbor improvements, etc.
The results of the actual elections for the annexation of Wil-
mington and San Pedro held on August 5 and 12, respectively,
of that year, were large majorities in favor of consolidation.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
143
Consolidation was joyfully hailed throughout all the districts
of the enlarged city as a foretaste of the great development
to be expected. The port became officially known as Los
Angeles Harbor on February 13, 1910.
In 1909 litigation finally established title to the tract in the
Southwestern part of the city known as Exposition Park as
belonging to the State of California which, in that year, en-
tered into a lease of the same to the city and county of Los
Angeles for fifty years, and its development with a museum
Broadway Looking South from Sixth Street in 1920
building, fine arts building and state armory was immediately
planned and commenced.
In 1909 the city council created the first harbor board, and
this action was confirmed at a popular election in 1911, when
the board was definitely accepted as a regular part of the
city organization under its charter. Members appointed for
the first board were : Stoddard Jess, Thomas E. Gibbon and
M. H. Newmark.
In 1911 wireless telegraph communication was established
between Los Angeles and San Francisco and other points
along the coast; and in 1912 with Honolulu. At first there
was considerable difficulty in establishing regular communi-
cation with the latter, and it was necessary to send all mes-
Entrance to Museum op History, Science and Art
PROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 145
sages to that point during the night hours, because of peculiar
atmospheric conditions.
In November, 1913, the Museum of History, Science and
Art was located in the new Exposition Park and formally
dedicated.
Much has transpired since this last mentioned date, and
the kaleidoscope of the years is still magical with the whirling
colors of events that the future historian will set down for
those who will then, as now, look backward with eyes of
wonder upon the Wonder City of the West.
CHAPTER VIII
FROM THE SPANIARD TO THE AMERICAN
The events of the first seventy years of the existence of
Los Angeles as a human habitation — that is to say, from the
founding of the pueblo down to the time it really became an
American city — cannot fail to be of interest, and certainly
the events of the time that transpired between those two
epochs is of vital historical importance. This book, or any
other book with a similar purpose, failing to record these
events, would fail of its object.
We shall proceed now to pass these events in review.
In 1781 a royal regulation or order authorizing the found-
ing of the Pueblo of Los Angeles was formulated. The set-
tlers and families were to be healthy, strong and of good
character and to include a mason, blacksmith and carpenter
obligated to remain for a term of ten years. Each settler
was to get an allowance of $116.50 a year for the first two
years and $60 for each of the next three years, sums to be
paid in clothing and necessaries at cost ; also two horses, two
mares, two cows and a calf, two sheep, two goats, one yoke of
oxen, a plow point, spade, hoe, axe, sickle, musket and leath-
ern shield. Breeding animals to be supplied as community
property, likewise forge, anvil, crowbars, spades, carpenters'
tools, etc. Cost of articles to be charged against recipients
and to be paid for at the end of five years in stock and sup-
plies taken at market price for army consumption.
Within three years each settler was to have a good adobe
house constructed and land cleared, and within five years to
have a fair crop of wheat and corn growing, good farm equip-
ment, chickens, etc. After five years the title to property
to be more or less vested in occupant but without right to sell
or mortgage.
No colonist was permitted to own over fifty head of cattle
146
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 147
in order to prevent monopoly. But this regulation was dis-
tinguished in the breach rather than in the observance.
The regulations in regard to real estate holding were mod-
ified somewhat, and in 1786 Jose Arguello, appointed by Gov-
ernor Fages, authorized and did issue deeds for the house
lots and to the farm lots to nine families, the net result of
the original colonization after expulsions and additions.
The original pueblo contained four square leagues, or thir-
ty-six square miles — laid out six miles square. Near the cen-
ter was the Plaza, 275 by 180 feet, the surrounding lots 55 by
111 feet. Outside one-half mile from the Plaza farming lands
each about seven acres were laid out and each settler was
entitled to two of these with community right in the general
area inside and out of the pueblo for pasturage.
The original Plaza lay approximately as follows : Begin-
ning at what is now the southeastern corner of San Fernando
an Upper Main, near the present site of the "Church of Our
Lady of the Angels," along the eastern line of Upper Main
Street nearly to Bellevue, thence across to the east line of
New High Street, thence to the northern line of San Fernando,
and thence to the place of beginning.
The first mayor (alcalde) was Jose Vanegas, 1788. Re-
elected in 1796.
No known descendants of the first settlers are now in Los
Angeles.
It was intended by Governor de Neve that settlers choose
their own council and mayor, but for the first seven years no
election was held and the pueblo was under a minor military
official known as "Comisionado." The regulations required
that within five years each settler have a substantial residence
of adobe. The river was dammed at about Buena Vista
Street Bridge to supply the "Zanja Madre," or main irriga-
tion ditch, laid out to supply the fields with water.
In 1784 a chapel was constructed near the corner of Buena
Vista and Bellevue Avenue. The first public structures were
the town house, guard house and granary.
In the first six months Lara, a Spaniard, and Mesa and
Quintary, negroes, were expelled with their families — sixteen
148 LOS ANGELES
persons in all. Some years later Navarro, the tailor, was also
expelled from the pueblo.
In 1785 Jose Francisco Sirova, a Californian, applied for
admission, and was given original terms. Juan Jose Domin-
guez, Spaniard, also joined the colony, having been given
a special land grant by Governor Fages. The grant was the
San Pedro and Dominguez ranches.
By 1790 households had increased from 9 to 28, the popula-
tion to 139. Up to 1788 there was much complaint against
Corp. Vicente Felix, acting comisionado of the colony and
arbiter of all disputes, resulting in the selection of an alcalde
in that year — Jose Vangas, who had eight successors up to
the year 1800, but during all of which time Felix remained the
direct representative of the governor.
It appears that colonists managed only to grow supplies
for their own use up to 1800, when we have first record of an
"exportable surplus," the community in that year offering to
outside buyers some 3,400 bushels of wheat at $1.66 a bushel.
The official price list issued by Governor Fages was as fol-
lows: Ox or cow, $5; sheep, $1 to $2; chickens, 25 cents;
mules, $14 to $20 ; well broken horses, $9. The governor also
attempted to arbitrarily fix the price of wheat at $1.
In 1800 the population was 315, consisting of 70 families,
and we already have records of the pueblo being recognized
as a health resort, the custom being to send invalided soldiers
from the various presidios to Los Angeles. In the census
of 1790, out of eighty adults, nine were listed as over ninety
years old.
We are to remember that this was 120 years ago, and that
Los Angeles then had no school, with mail from Mexico only
once a month, that foreign sea commerce was not allowed on
the coast, that there were no sanitary provisions in the pueblo,
no glass in the windows, and that each house lot contained its
own slaughter house.
One of the great difficulties of successful colonization was
a lack of a good class of women.
In 1784 there was a grant of the San Rafael Ranch to Jose
Maria Verdugo. It was four leagues from Los Angeles. In
the same vear Juan Jose Dominguez was granted a tract
FKOM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 140
along the ocean at San Pedro and up an estuary one-naif way
to Los Angeles. In the same year also the Encina Ranch was
granted to Francisco Reyes, rescinded in 1797, and then given
to the Mission San Fernando.
The years 1800-1810 were peaceful and uneventful in Los
Angeles. In the latter year the rebellion of Mexico against
Spain was under way. By 1820 all America, except Cuba and
some other islands, was lost to Spain.
During the decade from 1800 to 1810 the population of
Los Angeles increased from 315 to 365, with no improvement
in crops, and an actual decrease in cattle and sheep.
In 1805 the first known American ship arrived at San Pe-
dro — the Lelia Byrd, engaged in contraband trade.
In 1806 a new agricultural impetus took place by growing
hemp, which continued until 1810, when the market demand
ceased and nearly brought disaster to growers.
During this decade disputes arose between the pueblo and
San Fernando Mission authorities over the use of the water
of the Los Angeles River. It was held by the governor that
all the water of the river belonged to the colonists of the
pueblo, and that if the dam constructed by the padres at Ca-
huenga interfered with the pueblo supply the dam must be
removed.
In the Mexican rebellion, California sided with Spain
against the rebels. The change came without bloodshed and
was of seemingly little interest to the inhabitants of Los
Angeles.
There were hard times between 1810 and 1820, caused
chiefly by a suspension of payments from Spain for army
and civil life in California. Spanish trading ships feared to
visit the coast because of Mexican and South American priva-
teers.
From 1810 to 1820 the population of Los Angeles doubled.
Holders of land grants in the vicinity of the pueblo were
included in the population and were under its jurisdiction in
local matters. There was a large birth rate due to easy living
conditions on the ranches. The immigration from Mexico was
of a poor stamp. The Mexican Republic introduced "trans-
portation to the Calif ornias" as a form of punishment for
150 LOS ANGELES
heinous offenses. The people protested, and consequently
the practice was never exercised on a large scale.
Land for cultivation was to be had at almost for the asking
in Los Angeles, yet in 1816 nearly 50 per cent of the popula-
tion was listed as landless. They were probably too listless
to attempt cultivation.
The year 1815 was characterized by an excessive rainfall.
The river left its bed and ran along San Fernando Street to
Alameda, forming a new channel. In 1825 there was a still
greater flood and the river returned to its original and pres-
ent channel.
The year 1812 records the first work done on a permanent
church; the cornerstone being laid in 1814. Its location was
changed after the flood in 1815 to the present Plaza church.
Actual building of the church commenced in 1818 upon a sub-
scription of 500 cattle at $5 a head to defray cost.
The governor took over the cattle to be used as army sup-
plies, and agreed to include the construction of the church in
his next year's expense budget, but owing to virtual bank-
ruptcy of the territory, the governor's promise was not car-
ried out. Later the padres subscribed seven barrels of brandy
worth $575. The church was still uncompleted in 1821, and
again an appeal to the padres was made and more brandy
subscribed, augmented by cash subscriptions by colonists all
over the province. The church was dedicated December 8,
1822.
About this time, under the new regime in Mexico, Califor-
nia was entitled to a representative in the Mexican National
Assembly, to be elected by a California legislative body. In
this first Legislature of California, Los Angeles was repre-
sented by Jose Palomares, and in the following session by
Jose Antonio Cabrillo also.
About the same time the local administration of Los An-
geles also underwent some changes. It included the addition
of a syndico, combination of treasurer and legal adviser, and
a secretary, added to the already existing offices of alcalde and
two regidors, making a body of five. This civil body then in-
timated to the governor that the authority of the comisionado
might well be dispensed with, but the governor demurred.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 151
The trouble was finally adjusted by the existing comisionado,
one Guillermo Costa, being elected alcalde. Thus the two
authorities amalgamated and the old order of things was never
again used.
Troubles over municipal elections seemed prevalent about
this time. In 1826 the election was ruled to have been illegal
and was ordered held again.
During the period 1822 to 1847 California was a Mexican
territory in which regular and several irregular governors of
California reigned from period of from six months to six
years. The whole territory was much disturbed by petty
squabbles and local rebellions, the Pueblo of Los Angeles
being a particular political storm-center, the birthplace of
plots for the overthrow of governors, etc., due largely to the
insistence of this pueblo that, as the largest in the territory,
it was entitled to be made the capital in place of Monterey.
In 1835 came an order from Mexico that the capital be moved
from Monterey to Los Angeles, but the decree was not carried
out until 1845.
Tn 1831 Governor Manuel Victoria, arrogant, cruel and
hated, expelled two respected citizens of Los Angeles — Jose
Antonio Cabrillo and Don Abel Stearns. This action caused
a manifesto fathered by Pio Pico, Juan Bandidi and Jose
Antonio Cabrillo of Los Angeles in which it was demanded
that the people depose the governor. Revolutionary forces
met and defeated Victoria and his following, and he was de-
ported. Pio Pico was elected by the Legislature to serve as
temporary governor.
In 1831 the population, according to Forbes, was about
1,400, and in the present area of Los Angeles County about
4,600.
Governor Jose Figueroa, best of all governors, was sent
to California from Mexico, 1832-5.
In 1835 Governor Mariano Chico, perhaps the worst gov-
ernor California ever had, was in power. During his term
occurred the first record of a lynching of a white settler, the
victim being a man who had eloped with the wife of a citizen
named Felix, and who, on being followed, had turned on and
killed Felix. Governor Chico was deposed by revolution.
152 LOS ANGELES
In 1836-37 Juan Bautista Alvarado became governor by
revolution and popular following, but was not recognized by
Mexico, whereupon he announced himself to l">e governor of
the "Free and Sovereign State of California." He was not
backed by the citizens and, on the initiative of the ayunta-
iniento of Los Angeles, he was accepted only as governor un-
til Mexico could appoint. Alvarado demurred, but finally ac-
cepted the Los Angeles demands.
In 1837 Carlos Antonio Cabrillo was appointed governor
by Mexico, but Alvarado would not acknowledge him, and Car-
rillo, backed by a following raised in Los Angeles, was de-
feated by forces under Alvarado and abandoned his claim.
Then Mexico recognized Alvarado.
In 1842-45 Governor Emmanuel Micheltorena ruled by the
brute force of his following of dissipated and cut-throat sol-
diers. A revolution against him under Alvarado resulted in
a battle near Cahuenga, won by the revolutionary troops
chiefly from Los Angeles, and Micheltorena was eliminated
and deported. Pio Pico was one of the leaders of the revolu-
tion, under whom were many of the foreign residents of Los
Angeles.
In 1845-47 Don Pio Pico went into history as the last gov-
ernor under Mexico.
The first American to settle in the vicinity of Los Angeles
was Joseph Chapman. He was first treated as a prisoner of
war, but owing to his resourcefulness and ingenuity he was
accepted as a citizen. He built the first successful water
power grist mill for Padre Zalvidea of San Gabriel, and was
also instrumental in framing the timbers for the Plaza Church.
He constructed a schooner for the padres of San Gabriel
Mission, to be used for otter hunting. It was constructed in
sections, carried to San Pedro, assembled there and launched.
Chapman died in 1849.
In 1829 came George Rice and John Temple, who opened a
general merchandise store on the present site of the Federal
Building, which was then the southern limit of the city. This
partnership ceased in 1831, and Temple carried on the busi-
ness alone until 1845.
In 1828 came Abel Stearns, known as "Don Merchault."
154 LOS ANGELES
He erected, on the site of the Baker Block, a sumptuous home
known as the "Palace of Don Abel Stearns." At his death
he was the largest owner of property of value in the southern
half of the state. His widow, formerly Arcadia Bandini, later
married Col. R. S. Baker.
In 1831-35 considerable trade was established between Cal-
ifornia and New Mexico, of which trade Los Angeles was the
center. Caravans arrived and departed from Los Angeles.
In 1830 we find no record of medical men or regular doc-
tors, but medicines of various kinds were used and in more
than alopathic doses. The priests were looked to for medical
care by the inhabitants.
In 1841 came the first notable organized immigration party
to Los Angeles. It consisted of forty members from Pennsyl-
vania, many whose members afterwards became prominent
here, among them being William Workman, B. D. Wilson and
D. W. Alexander.
After the independence of Mexico a more liberal course
was adopted towards foreigners. They were not encouraged,
but tolerated. In consequence there commenced a larger in-
filtration of foreign blood and a greater use of imported mer-
chandise.
In 1842 Commodore Catesby Jones, commander of Pacific
squadron of the United States Navy, believing in a rumor of
war between the United States and Mexico, took possession
of Monterey on October 19, 1842. He hoisted the United
States flag and declared all California a part of the United
States, but learning of his mistake one day later, he hauled
down the flag and retired. Governor Micheltorena, then on
way north to Monterey, heard of the action of Commander
Jones and retreated to Los Angeles and commenced to estab-
lish a defensive position on Fort Hill. News came of Jones'
action at Monterey, and Micheltorena abandoned his warlike
preparations and prepared to receive the American officer and
accept the official apology which he was to tender.
In March, 1846, Capt. John C. Fremont came to California
with a surveying party of sixty-two men and received permis-
sion of General Castro, commander-in-chief of the California
military forces under Governor Pio Pico, to encamp in the
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 155
San Joaquin Valley, but this permission was almost immedi-
ately revoked by Castro, and Fremont was ordered to leave
the country. Fremont refused and entrenched on "Hawk's
Peak," thirty miles from Monterey. After a few days he
broke camp and proceeded north towards Oregon.
In June, 1846, Captains Merritt and Ide, probably under
orders from Fremont, seized the military post of Sonoma and
there hoisted the "Bear Flag" — described as a sheet of cot-
ton cloth, having a crude figure of a grizzly bear smeared
thereon, the pigment used being berry juice — and proclaimed
California an independent territory, freed from Mexico. Sub-
sequent action of the American residents confirmed these acts.
It was at this time also that Commodore Sloat seized Mon-
terey, and that Commodore Stockton prepared to reduce the
City of Los Angeles.
Meantime the American Congress — unknown to Fremont
and his aides — had declared war against Mexico, and an ex-
pedition of upwards of 1,600 men under Gen. Stephen W.
Kearney was already marching across the country in the
direction of the Pacific.
With the object of seizing Los Angeles, Commodore Stock-
ton organized a mounted corps with Fremont in command and
Gillespie second, which force embarked on the sloop Cyane
and left for San Diego with orders to co-operate with the
commodore in his proposed plan for the seizure of Los An-
geles. On August 1st Stockton sailed in the Congress and
arrived off San Pedro on August 6th, after a short stop to
take possession of Santa Barbara on his way down the coast.
He arrived at San Pedro and learned that, under Generals
Castro and Andres Pico, there was a hostile force near Los
Angeles. He learned also that Fremont landed at San Diego
but was unable to obtain horses and so was unable to join
forces. However, Stockton, impressed by the necessity of
quick action, landed about 400 sailors and marines and some
six small guns from the ship and prepared for an advance by
land. A few days after landing he was approached by a flag
of truce from Castro. Stockton impressed the messenger with
an exaggerated idea of his strength and sent them back in
panic and a refusal of the terms. Two days later Castro sent
156 LOS ANGELES
other messengers defying Stockton and the United States.
They were again sent back by Stockton and the terms disre-
garded. On August 11th, after having previously dispatched
messengers to Fremont at San Diego to join him, Stockton
commenced his march on Los Angeles.
Approaching Los Angeles, couriers from Castro warned
Stockton of his peril to approach nearer. Stockton replied :
"Tell the General to have the bells ready at 8 o'clock, as I
shall be there by that time ;" and he was. Castro, though ad-
vantageously posted, with some 1,000 men and artillery, never
fired a shot, disbanded forces and fled. The abandonment of
the city by Governor Pico followed. Stockton tried to capture
Pico, but without success. Castro fled to Sonora.
Fremont arrived August 15, 1846, when many prominent
Californians surrendered. Don Jose Maria Flores and Don
Andres Pico were paroled — not to bear arms against United
States. Stockton issued a proclamation declaring California
a territory of the United States, and organized a civil and
military administration, himself as governor and commander-
in-chief. He invited all citizens to meet September 15th and
elect officers.
About this time, Stockton for the first time learned that
war had been declared between the United States and Mexico,
and he proceeded north to look after affairs there, leaving
Lieutenant Gillespie with fifty men to form the Los Angeles
garrison.
In those troubled times there was, of course, a great deal
of bitterness and a great deal of angry talk. Both the Amer-
ican invaders and the Californians who were up in arms in
the defense of their country issued frequent proclamations
giving their sides of the case. It is not necessary to state the
American side of the case. But, since the standpoint of the
native people is not so well understood, we feel that it is no
more than scant justice to them to set down here an expression
of their thoughts. And we think we can do this in no better
way than by reproducing the famous pronouncamiento of the
renowned Gen. Jose Maria Flores, issued from his armed
camp in the City of Los Angeles, September 24, 1846 :
Fellow-Citizens : — It is a month and half that, by lamenta-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 157
ble fatality, fruit of the cowardice and inability of the first
authorities of the department, we behold ourselves subjected
and oppressed by an insignificant force of adventurers of the
United States of America, placing us in a worse condition
than that of slaves.
They are dictating to us despotic and arbitrary laws, and
loading us with contributions and onerous burdens which
have for an object the ruin of our industry and agriculture,
and to force us to abandon our property to be possessed and
divided among themselves.
And shall we be capable to allow ourselves to be subju-
gated, and to accept, by our silence, the weighty chains of
slavery? Shall we permit to be lost the soil inherited from
our fathers, which cost them so much blood and so many
sacrifices? Shall we make our families victims of the most
barbarous slavery? Shall we wait to see our wives violated—
our innocent children punished by the American whips — our
property sacked — our temples profaned — and lastly, to drag
through an existence full of insult and shame? No! a thou-
sand times no ! Countrymen, first death !
Who of you does not feel his heart beat with violence;
who does not feel his blood boil, to contemplate our situation ;
who will be the Mexican who will not feel indignant ; and who
will not take up arms to destroy our oppressors? "We be-
lieve there is not one so vile and cowardly. With such a
motive the majority of the inhabitants of the district, justly
indignant against our tyrants, raise the cry of war, with arms
in their hands, and of one accord swear to sustain the follow-
ing articles:
1. We, the inhabitants of the department of California,
as members of the great Mexican nation, declare that it is, and
has been, our wish to belong to her alone, free and inde-
pendent.
2. Consequently the authorities intended and named by
the invading forces of the United States are held null and void.
3. All the North Americans being enemies of Mexico, we
swear not to lay down our arms till they are expelled from
Mexican territory.
4. All Mexican citizens, from the age of fifteen to sixty,
158 LOS ANGELES
who do not take up arms to forward the present plan, are
declared traitors and under pain of death.
5. Every Mexican or foreigner who may directly or in-
directly aid the enemies of Mexico will be punished in the same
manner.
6. The property of the North Americans in the depart-
ment, who may directly or indirectly have taken part with,
or aided the enemies, shall be confiscated and used for the
expenses of the war; and their persons shall be taken to the
interior of the Republic.
7. All those who may oppose the present plan will be
punished with arms.
8. All the inhabitants of Santa Barbara and the district
of the north will be invited immediately to adhere to the pres-
ent plan.
[Signed] Jose Ma. Floees.
Camp Angeles, September 24, 1846.
This proclamation was signed by more than 300 persons.
CHAPTER IX
WHEN UNCLE SAM STEPPED IN
All the books that have been written about California con-
tain, of course, more or less elaborate and vivid accounts of
the military operations which resulted in the occupation and
possession of the Province by the American forces, as a result
of which California became a state of the Union.
Concerning these operations as they relate particularly
to Los Angeles, we are fortunate to have discovered an
account of those matters by no less a person than the re-
nowned Don Augustin Olvera who, as far back as the year
1841, was justice of the peace of the territory lying between
Santa Ana and Las Flores. Don Augustin was admitted as
an attorney to practice before the United States District Court
in 1855, and in the year following acted as receiver of the
United States Land Office in Los Angeles. In every way
he is a most illustrious and reliable witness of the events of
his time. He was long a resident of this city where he died
in the fullness of his years, respected and beloved. Having
been active in the administration of the law under both Mexi-
can and American rule in Los Angeles, and a man of great
mental ability, he was ideally equipped as an historian.
Let us go back to December, 1846, when Commodore Stock-
ton and General Kearney with 600 men, camped at the gates
of the pueblo of Los Angeles, then a community of a popula-
tion of about 1,000 souls, and, as it were, standing behind
American guns, let us see what happened as Don Augustin
Olvera saw it.
Don Augustin relates that on the 9th of January, 1846, the
army passed from the river into Main Street near the old
' ' Celis house, ' ' thence up Main Street to the Plaza. Two guns,
with a couple of hundred men, were stationed on the hill over-
looking Main Street; the rest quartered as comfortably as
159
160 LOS ANGELES
possible. On the 14th, Col. J. C. Fremont marched in from
Cahuenga, his battalion "a body of fine looking men in gen-
eral on good horses and armed with rifles."
Eleven hundred of United States troops were now in the
city. Upon the hill at once was commenced a Fort, on which
the patriotic sailors worked cheerily, although they had begun
to talk of their ships, and the term of service of many of them
had expired. It was finished by the Mormons. It has been
said that a small entrenchment at this spot existed, made in
the time of Governor Micheltorena. This is a mistake. Before
1846 it had been the playground of the children, a favorite
resort of lovers, the place for picnics or recreation on days
of festival. In 1859 and several years thereafter, hundreds
of persons every fine Sunday afternoon of early spring might
be seen there, culling the wild flowers or gazing over the beau-
tiful panorama of mountain and plain and sea. A very long
time passed before it began to have charming residences.
January 18th, General Kearny, with his dragoons afoot
and almost shoeless, and after the casualties of their hard
campaigns, scarcely more than fifty in number, marched for
San Diego. Captains Emory and Turner, Lieutenants Da-
vidson and Warner, and Doctor Griffin, returned with him.
Commodore Stockton followed the next day.
The battle-ground of January 8th is at present "Pico
Crossing"; by the Calif ornians always named Curunga.
Gen. Jose Maria Flores commanded the Californians. He
had ordered the charge to be made by a squadron. The com-
pany advanced under Capt. Juan Bautista Moreno. Don
Francisco Cota, bearing the Mexican standard, placed him-
self at its head, and the column dashed down the precipitous
hill, about seventy in number, upon the close ranks of Stock-
ton. The sailors received them with a terrible fire. The other
company reached the brow of the hill to follow their com-
rades, when Don Diego Sepulveda, acting upon his own judg-
ment, ordered a halt, advanced alone, and commanded a re-
treat. He was aid of Flores. This feat was accomplished by
Captain Moreno under heavy fire, but without further loss
than a severe wound which he received. Two had been mor-
tally wounded by the first fire of the sailors, namely, Ygnacio
162 LOS ANGELES
Sepulveda (El Cuacho), brother of Don Diego, and Francisco
Eubiou (Bacbico). They died of their wounds, at San Gabriel.
Californians still speak of their strange emotions, retired
only about 1,000 yards, at the music of Stockton's band, when
the heights were taken and their late camp occupied by him.
In the artillery duel of the Mesa, Alferez Jose Maria
Ramirez was slightly wounded, and a youth named Ignacio
"El Guaimeno" killed. Their entire force did not exceed 400.
At the distance, it was easy for the American army to be
misled as to the effect of its shots, owing to the habit of Cal-
ifornians, so agile on horseback, to hang themselves on their
saddles, on either side from the danger. "El Guaimeno,"
that is to say, "of Guaimas," was a Yaqui Indian, born on the
river of that name. In a battle against the Yaquis a soldier
had captured him, then a child, and was about to kill him.
Don Santiago Johnson interposed, bought him of the soldier
for $12, and finally brought him in his family to California.
It seems to have been thought that the personal eclat of
some of the higher functionaries would inspire the rank and
file with greater enthusiasm. Certainly common sense will
not undertake to judge them as regular soldiers. Magnificent
horsemen they were, and by a simple and active life made
hardy for campaigns, but never had rigid military training.
Most of them were very young.
This revolution owed much to the patriotic zeal of the
women of the country, .by fervent appeal and indignant up-
braiding impelling father, brother, husband, lover, to resist-
ance. Happily they were the first in January to bow grace-
fully to destiny — a gentle influence so new-born, like the
rainbow, at the close of the storm.
Many of the graver inhabitants felt that they were not
able to cope with the United States ; their men undisciplined,
and without any resources to wage war. So thought General
Flores, we may well believe, with his reputation for experi-
ence and skill; and the like conviction has often been attrib-
uted to Gen. Andres Pico. But the untamed spirit of the
majority at first did not stop to reason upon the consequences.
Honor and love of country threw away cold calculation and
militarv caution.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 163
Gen. Jose Maria Flores was born at the Hacienda de los
Ornos, in the Department of Coahuila. He had been aid to
Governor Micheltorena. He died at Mazatlan in April or
May, 1866. His wife was a native of California — Dona Do-
lores Zamorano, daughter of Don Augustin Zamorano, who
had been secretary of Governor Jose Maria Echeandia from
1825, and afterward, in 1833, of Governor Jose Figueroa ; he
was born in Florida. Her grandfather was Don Santiago
Arguello, formerly military commander of San Diego, and
from 1840 until 1843 prefect at Los Angeles, whose eldest
son, Don Santiago, was captain of the native Californian
company, on the American side, at the battle of Curunga.
General Flores was thirty years of age at the date of these
events.
Lieut. Col. Philip St. George Cooke and the Mormon bat-
talion reached the Mission of San Diego, January 29th; Ste-
phen C. Foster was his interpreter. March 17th, with Com-
pany C, First Dragoons, and four companies of his battalion,
Colonel Cooke took post at this city. The officers of Company
C then were : Capt. A. J. Smith, First Lieut. J. B. Davidson,
Second Lieut. George H. Stoneman, the last mentioned officer
a graduate of the previous year at West Point.
Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson arrived in the latter part of
April with Company G, Capt. Matthew R. Stevenson, and
Company E, Capt. Nelson Taylor, of the New York Regiment.
(Captain Stevenson is dead. Captain Taylor was a brigadier
general in the Civil war, and member of Congress from New
York.)
May 16th, by order of Colonel Cooke, Doctor Griffin was
appointed as surgeon at this city. Doctor Sanderson, surgeon
of the Mormon battalion, was discharged, their term of service
being out; one company of which re-enlisted for the war
under Capt. J. D. Hunter, who had commanded Company B
of that battalion; Captain Hunter was a native of Kentucky.
In August he was appointed agent for the Indians, who, espe-
cially in San Diego County, had done much damage upon the
ranchos.
A pleasant reminiscence there is of Don Juan Abila. Doc-
tor Griffin made his ride within two days and a half from San
164 LOS ANGELES
Diego, in consequence of Colonel Cook's order. At the Alisos
rancho his horse was too jaded to proceed. Don Juan imme-
diately gave him — not a bronco, but one of his best saddle
horses — with characteristic Californian hospitality. Thus
early had confidence and cordial feelings sprung up among
this open-hearted race. It is proper to observe that before
the army had felt the amenities of resident foreigners identi-
fied by marriage with the natives, among them Don Edward
Stokes of Santa Ysabel and Don Juan Forster, both these
gentlemen of English birth.
July 4, 1847, the fort on the hill was finished. The staff
was raised and the flag thrown to the breeze amid salutes
of cannon, and the place christened Fort Moore. A grand ball
at night, given by the American officers, ended the national
anniversary. The fort was named in honor of Capt. Ben
Moore, who had fallen at San Pascual, December 6, 1846.
One, on the then western frontier well-remembered, so kind
and genial ever; stern, prompt, faithful when duty called.
On that dark day near-by fell Lieut. T. H. Hammond. Com-
panions they in arms, married to sisters, devoted friends, their
life-blood mingled for their country's sake. They are buried
together at the Old Town, San Diego.
July 9th, Lieut. Col. H. S. Burton having obtained neces-
sary stores and two six-pounders at Los Angeles, left San
Pedro with his command of 110 men on the U. S. store ship
Lexington to occupy the Port of La Paz, Lower California.
He had of the First N. Y. Regiment Company A, Capt. S. Gr.
Steele, and Company B, Capt. H. C. Matsell. After several
conflicts the occupation was firmly established and main-
tained, until the troops were withdrawn and that country
delivered over to Mexico under the terms of the treaty. An
episode of war, that has a glow of romance in more than one
of its pleasing traditions. Lieutenant Colonel Burton after-
ward served on the Pacific Coast several years and in the
Civil war. He died with the rank of major general. His
widow, Doiia Ampara de Burton, and son Harry and daugh-
ter Nellie resided in San Diego County. Captain Steele went
to live in Scott's Valley, California. Captain Matsell after-
ward was a merchant at the City of San Diego, afterward
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 165
residing in New York. Of the privates in this daring service
four came to Los Angeles : Messrs. Peter Thompson, James
'Sullivan, August Ehlers and Moses W. Perry.
Of the native Californians some probably dreamed of help
to come from Mexico through their beloved governor, Don
Pio Pico. In August, 1846, he had set out for the capital
leaving them his assurance of reinforcements. But by this
time the better portion of the people had become convinced
that further opposition must be unavailing. Their cherished
institution — the ayuntamiento (town council), which had
closed its sessions July 4, 1846, at the first sound of war— was
restored in every detail according to their old laws. The
familiar words "Dios y Libertad" (God and Liberty) au-
thenticated their official communication among themselves as
if the Mexican banner were flying. The election took place
in 1847, the first meeting February 20th of that year. Its
members were : First alcalde and president, Don Jose Sala-
zar; second alcalde, Don Enrique Abila; regidores (council-
men), Don Miguel N. Pryor, Don Rafael Gallardo, Don Julian
Chavez, Don Jose Antonio Yorba; sindico (treasurer), Don
Jose Vincente Guerrero; secretary, Don Ygnacio Coronel.
Its record is creditable to their probity, intelligence, econ-
omy and zeal for the public good. Owing to misunderstand-
ings between this body and the military commandant, Colonel
Stevenson, at the end of December it was dissolved by Gov. R.
B. Mason, and January 1, 1848, S. C. Foster, alcalde by mil-
itary appointment, took the place of the ayuntameinto, with
like jurisdiction over a wide stretch of country beyond the
limits of the city. This office he held until May 21st of the
ensuing year, displaying superior skill in its various and often
difficult business.
The irrigation system every season had been a source of
perplexity to the officers, and inconvenience and losses to the
people, who never could find more than some temporary ex-
pedient to keep up the toma (dam) so necessary for the culti-
vation of the 103 vineyards and gardens then existing. In
February, after his appointment, by a measure firmly executed
at insignificant cost to each proprietor, Foster put it in a
166 LOS ANGELES
condition that was not disturbed until the great freshet of
1861-62.
A thousand things combined to smooth the asperities of
war. Fremont had been courteous and gay; Mason was just
and firm. The natural good temper of the population favored
a speedy and perfect conciliation. The American officers at
once found themselves happy in every circle. In suppers,
balls, visiting in town and country, the hours glided away with
pleasant reflections. For hospitality the families were un-
rivaled through the world; and really were glad that it had
not been worse at San Gabriel. "Men capable of such actions
ought not to have been shot," they said in softest Castilian
— admiring the American dash and daring displayed on that
occasion.
Gen. Andres Pico and his compadre, Lieutenant Stoneman,
had a horse race against Sutler Sam Haight and a native
turfman — when Old "Oso" of the Picos and Workman,
staked by the general and lieutenant — beat Dr. Nicholas Den's
"Champion of Santa Barbara," name forgotten, 1,000 yards.
On the other side a fascination seized them for the City of
the Queen of the Angels. Army officers are believed to be no
indifferent judges of wine. Doctor Griffin says of Los An-
geles wine the day after their entry: "It is of excellent flavor;
as good as I ever tasted. The white wine is particularly fine.
I ate of the fine oranges. Taking everything into considera-
tion, this is decidedly one of the most desirable places I have
ever been at." Camped on the sandy Santa Ana January
19th, on the return march to San Diego, thought turned back
to this "very pleasant place — we found it so — we lived well
and had the best of wine. ' '
At San Diego in December before, their reception had
been, if possible, warmer from that ever enthusiastic and
generous people. Don Juan Bandini and wife, Dona Refugio,
had thrown open their mansion to Commodore Stockton. All
San Diego vied one with another to pay him honor and gild
the flying moments with joy. Don Miguel Redrorena and his
relative, Don Santiago E. Arguello, took up arms for the
United States; both went with Commodore Stockton to Los
Angeles. The inhabitants saw the army depart on the 29th
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 167
in mingled sympathy and fear for the result. They welcomed
all that returned to the wonted round of festivities. The
navy reciprocated the courtesy of the people. "On the 22d,
Washington's Birthday," says Doctor Griffin, "the commo-
dore gave an elegant blowout on board of the Congress. The
decorations were the flags of all nations ; the ship 's deck de-
cidedly the gayest ballroom I ever saw. We had all the
ladies from San Diego. Everything went off in the happiest
manner. ' '
The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was ratified May 30,
1848. The news did not reach Los Angeles until August 15th.
In the same month were celebrated the nuptials of Stephen
C. Foster and Doha Merced Lugo, daughter of Don Antonio
Maria Lugo. Don Antonio Maria died in 1860. He was born
in 1775, at the Mission of San Antonio de Padua. He was a
link between two centuries — his name a household word
throughout California.
In the same month, or July, ex-Governor Pio Pico returned
to Los Angeles from Guaimas, having effected nothing dur-
ing his absence of two years. The Mexican government neg-
lected all his representations, and finally refused to permit
him or his secretary, Don Jose Matias Moreno, to visit the
capital. It was a patriotic dream which he had indulged for
his native land. The cold policy of Mexico seems to have
parted with this remote region without a single regret. Don
Pio has lived to a green old age, none the less honored for
having been the last Mexiccvn governor of California.
In September Colonel Stevenson left for San Francisco.
In January, 1849, a squadron of Second Dragoons, Major
Montgomery Pike Graham commanding, fresh from Mexico,
was posted at this city. His officers were: Captain Kane,
quartermaster; Capt. D. H. Rucker; Lieutenants Cave J.
Couts, Givens, Sturgiss, Campbell, Evans and Wilson.
Capt. Rufus Ingalls was here in this year as quartermaster.
The arrival of Major Graham relieved Company C, First
Dragoons, which then marched for Sonoma, under its officers
as before mentioned, and the surgeon, Doctor Griffin.
Commodore Robert Field Stockton was born at Princeton,
New Jersey, in 1796 ; was distinguished by his naval services
168 LOS ANGELES
in the Mediterranean and other seas. California owes to him
its first press and first public schoolhouse under American
rule. In 1851 he represented his native state in the U. S.
Senate, and succeeded in having the passage of a law abolish-
ing flogging in the navy. He died October 7, 1866.
Gen. Stephen "Watts Kearny was born at Newark, New
Jersey, August 30, 1791. In June, 1816, he was made briga-
dier general in command of "the Army of the West," and
took possession of New Mexico, established a provisional
government, and marched for California. He died at St.
Louis, Missouri, October 31, 1818.
There is a deep fascination in those colorful events which
witnessed the passing of the City of Los Angeles from Mex-
ican control in the hands of American men and the American
Government, and, in addition to the reminiscences of Don
Augustin, we are glad to have an intimate account of those
events from the diary of Capt. W. H. Emory, who was with
Stockton and Kearney in the engineering corps of that famous
"Army of the West."
Captain Emory's diary for the year 1846 contains the
following exceedingly interesting entries :
January 6. — Today we made a long march (from San
Diego) of 19 miles to the upper Santa Anna, a town situated
on the river of the same name. We were now near the enemy,
and the town gave evidence of it. Not a soul was to be seen ;
the few persons remaining in it were old women, who. on our
approach, had bolted their doors. The leaders of the Califor-
nians, as a means of inciting their people to arms, made them
believe we would plunder their houses and violate their
women.
Taking advantage of a deep ditch for one face of the camp,
it was laid off in a very defensible position between the town
and the river, expecting the men would have an undisturbed
night's rest, to be in the morning ready for the fight, which
might now be expected daily. In this hope we were mistaken.
The wind blew a hurricane (something unusual in this part
of California), and the atmosphere was filled with particles
of fine dust, so that one could not see and but with difficulty
breathe.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 169
January 7.— The wind continued to blow violently, which
the enemy should have taken advantage to attack us. Our
weapons were chiefly fire-arms; his, the lance; and I was quite
certain that in such a gale of wind as then blew, the difficulty
of loading our arms would have proved a serious matter.
The Santa Anna is a fine, dashing stream, knee-deep, and
about 100 yards wide, flowing over a sandy bed. In its valley
are many valuable vineyards and corn fields. It is capable
of affording water to a great many more. On its banks are
considerable tracts of uncultivated land within the level of
irrigation. We now began to think there would be more for-
midable and united resistance by the enemy, and such was
the unanimity of the men, women and children, in support
of the war, that not a particle of information could be ob-
tained in reference to his force or position. After traveling
ten miles we came to the Coyotes, a rancheria owned by a
rich widow, who had just married a handsome young fellow,
who might well pass for her son. These people we found at
home, and we learned from them that the enemy intended
to give us battle the next day. Indeed, as we approached the
rancheria, several horsemen drew off, reconnoitering us so
closely as to make it doubtful if they were not some of our
own vaqueros.
January 8. — We passed over a country destitute of wood
and water, undulating and gently dipping toward the ocean,
which was in view. About two o'clock we came in sight of
the San Gabriel River. Small squads of horsemen began to
show themselves on either flank, and it became quite apparent
the enemy intended to dispute the passage of the river.
Our progress was necessarily very slow, our oxen being
poor, and our wagons (the ox-carts of the country) with wheels
only about two feet in diameter.
The enemy did not yet discover his order of battle, and we
moved to the river in our habitual order of march, when near
the enemy, viz : the 2d. division in front, and the 1st. and 3d.
on the right and left flanks respectively; the guard and a
company of volunteer carbiniers in the rear; our cattle and
the wagon train in the centre, maknig for them, what the
170 LOS ANGELES
sailors wittily termed a Yankee "corral." The artillery were
distributed on the four angles of the rectangle.
This order of march was adopted from the character of
the enemy's force, all of which was mounted; and in a meas-
ure from our own being men unaccustomed to field evolutions,
it was necessary to keep them habitually in the order to resist
cavalry attacks when in view of the enemy. We had no cav-
alry, and the object of the enemy was to deprive us of our
cattle by sudden charge.
The river was about 100 yards wide, knee-deep, and flow-
ing over quicksand. Either side was fringed with a thick
undergrowth. The approach on our side was level; that on
the enemy's was favorable to him. A bank fifty feet high
ranged parallel with the river, at point blank cannon distance,
upon which he posted his artillery.
As we neared the thicket, we received the scattering fire
of the enemy's sharp-shooters. At the same moment, we saw
him place four pieces of artillery on the hill, so as to command
the passage. A squadron of 250 cavalry just showed their
heads above the hill, to the right of the battery, and the same
number were seen to occupy a position on the left.
The 2d. battalion was ordered to deploy as skirmishers,
and cross the river. As the line was about the middle of the
river, the enemy opened his battery, and made the water fly
with grape and round shot. Our artillery was now ordered to
cross — it was unlimbered, pulled over by the men, and placed
in counter battery on the enemy's side of the river. Our
people, very brisk in firing, made the fire of the enemy wild
and uncertain. Under this cover, the wagons and cattle were
forced with great labor across the river, the bottom of which
was quicksand.
Whilst this was going on, our rear was attacked by a
very bold charge, and repulsed.
On the right bank of the river there was a natural ban-
quette, breast high. Under this the line was deployed. To
this accident of the ground is to be attributed the little loss
we sustained from the enemy's artillery, which showered
grape and round shot over our heads. In an hour and twenty
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 171
minutes our baggage train had all crossed, the artillery of
the enemy was silenced, and a charge made on the hill.
Half-way between the hill and river, the enemy made a
furious charge on our left flank. At the same moment, our
right was threatened. The 1st. and 2d. battalions were thrown
into squares, and after firing one or two rounds, drove off
the enemy. The right wing was ordered to form a square, but
seeing the enemy hesitate, the order was countermanded ; the
1st. battalion, which formed the right, was directed to rush
for the hill, supposing that would be the contested point, but
great was our surprise to find it abandoned.
The enemy pitched his camp in the hills in view, but when
morning came, he was gone. We had no means of pursuit,
and scarcely the power of locomotion, such was the wretched
conditions of our wagon train. The latter it was still deemed
necessary to drag along for the purpose of feeding the garri-
son, intended to be left in the Ciudad de los Angeles, the
report being that the enemy intended, if we reached that town,
to burn and destroy every article of food. Distance 9.3 miles.
January 9. — The grass was very short and young, and our
cattle were not much recruited by the night's rest; we com-
menced our march leisurely, at 9 o'clock, over the "Mesa," a
wide plain between the Eio San Gabriel and the Rio San
Fernando.
Scattering horsemen, and small reconnoitering parties,
hung on our flanks. After marching five or six miles, we saw
the enemy's line on our right, above the crest made by a deep
indentation in the plain.
Here Flores addressed his men, and called on them to
make one more charge; expressed his confidence in their
ability to break our line; said that "yesterday he had been
deceived in supposing that he was fighting soldiers."
We inclined a little to the left to avoid giving Flores the
advantage of the ground to post his artillery; in other re-
spects we continued our march on the Pueblo as if he were
not in view.
When we were abreast of him, he opened his artillery
at a long distance, and we continued our march without halt-
ing, except for a moment, to put a wounded man in the cart,
Sunny, Beautiful Pasadena of Today
Upper View : Orange Grove Avenue. Lower : Typical Pasadena Street
PROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 173
and once to exchange a wounded mule, hitched to one of the
guns.
As we advanced, Flores deployed his force, making a horse
shoe in our front, and opened his nine-pounders on our right
flank, and two smaller pieces on our front. The shot from the
nine-pounders on our flank was so annoying that we halted
to silence them. In about fifteen minutes this was done, and
the order "forward" again given, when the enemy came down
on our left flank in a scattering sort of charge ; and notwith-
standing the efforts of our officers to make their men hold
their fire, they, as is usually the case under similar circum-
stances, delivered it whilst the Calif ornians were yet about a
hundred yards distant. The fire knocked many out of their
saddles and checked them. A round of grape was then fired
upon them and they scattered. A charge was made simulta-
neously with this as the beginning of the fight, but it was the
end of it. The Californians, the most expert horsemen in the
world, stripped the dead horses on the field, without dismount-
ing, and carried off most of their saddles, bridles, and all their
dead and wounded on horseback to the hills to the right.
It was now about three o'clock, and the town, known to
contain great quantities of wine and aguardiente, was four
miles distant. From previous experience of the difficulty of
controlling men when entering towns, it was determined to
cross the river San Fernando, halt there for the night, and
enter the town in the morning with the whole day before us.
The distance today is 6.2 miles.
After we had pitched our camp, the enemy came down
from the hills and 400 horsemen, with the four pieces of
artillery, drew off towards the town, in order and regularity,
whilst about sixty made a movement down the river, on our
rear and left flank. This led us to suppose they were not yet
whipped, as we thought, and that we should have a night
attack.
January 10. — Just as we had raised our camp, a flag of
truce, borne by Mr. Celis, a Castilian, Mr. Workman, an Eng-
lishman, and Alvarado, the owner of the rancheria at the
Alisos, was brought into camp. They proposed, on behalf of
the Californians, to surrender their dear City of the Angels,
174 LOS ANGELES
provided we would respect property and persons. This was
agreed to ; but not altogether trusting to the honesty of Gen-
eral Flores, who had once broken his parole, we moved into
the town in the same order we should have done if expecting
an attack.
It was a wise precaution, for the streets were full of des-
perate and drunken fellows who brandished their arms and
saluted us with every term of reproach. The crest, overlook-
ing the town, in rifle range was covered with horsemen en-
gaged in the same hospitable manner. One of them had on a
dragoon's coat, stolen from the dead body of one of our
soldiers after we had buried him at San Pasqual.
Our men marched steadily on until crossing the ravine
leading into the public square, when a fight took place amongst
the Calif ornians on the hill; one became disarmed, and to
avoid death rolled down the hill towards us, his adversary
pursuing and lancing him in the most cold-blooded manner.
The man tumbling down the hill was supposed to be one of our
vaqueros, and the cry of "rescue him" was raised. The crew
of the Cyane, nearest the scene, at once and without any or-
ders, halted and gave the man that was lancing him a volley ;
strange to say, he did not fall. Almost at the same instant,
but a little before it, the Californians from the hill did fire
on the vaqueros. The rifles were then ordered to clear the
hill, which a single fire effected, killing two of the enemy.
We were now in possession of the town ; great silence and
mystery was observed' by the Calif orians in regard to Flores ;
but were given to understand that he had gone to fight the
force from the north, drive them back, and then starve us out
of the town.
Towards the close of the day we learned very certainly
that Flores, with 150 men, chiefly Sonorians and desperadoes
of the country, had fled to Sonora, taking with him four or
five hundred of the best horses and mules in the country, the
property of his own friends. The silence of the Californians
was now changed into deep and bitter curses upon Flores.
Some slight disorder took place among our men at night,
from the facility of getting wine, but the vigilance of the offi-
cers soon suppressed it.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 175
January 11. — It rained torrents all day. I was ordered to
select a site, and place a fort, capable of containing a hundred
men; with this in view, a rapid reconnaissance of the town
was made, and the plan of a fort sketched, so placed as to
enable a small garrison to command the town and the prin-
cipal avenues to it. The plan was approved. Many men came
in during the day and surrendered themselves.
January 12. — I laid off the work, and, before night, broke
the first ground. The population of the town, and its de-
pendencies, is about 3,000; that of the town itself, about 1,500.
It is the center of wealth and population of the Mexico-Cali-
fornian people, and has heretofore been the seat of govern-
ment. Close under the base of the mountains, commanding the
passes to Sonora, cut off from the north by the pass at Santa
Barbara, it is the center of the military power of the Califor-
nians. Here all the revolutions have had their origin, and it
is the point upon which any Mexican force from Sonora would
be directed. It was therefore desirable to establish a fort,
which, in case of trouble, should enable a small garrison to hold
out till aid might come from San Diego, San Francisco, or
Monterey, places which are destined to become centers of
American settlements.
January 13. — It rained steadily all day, and nothing was
done on the work; at night I worked on the details of the
fort.
Thursday 14. — We drank today the wine of the country,
manufactured by Don Luis Vigne, a Frenchman. It was truly
delicious, resembling more the best description of Hock than
any other wine.
Many bottles were drunk leaving no headache or acidity
on the stomach. We obtained from the same gentleman a
profusion of grapes and luscious pears, the latter resembling
in color and taste the Bergamot pears, but different in shape,
being longer and larger.
January 15. — The details to work on the fort were by
companies. I sent to Captain Tilghman who commanded on
the hill, to detach one of the companies under his command
to commence the work. He furnished, on the 16th, a com-
pany of artillery (seamen from the Congress) for the day's
176 LOS ANGELES
work, which they performed bravely, and gave me great hopes
of success.
January 18, 19 and 20. — I received special orders which
separated me from the command, and the party of topo-
graphical engineers that had been so long under my orders.
The battles of the 6th, December, and the 8th and 9th,
January, had forever broken the Mexican authority in Cali-
fornia, and they were daily coming in, in large parties, to
sue for peace, and every move indicated a sincere desire on
the part of the more respectable portion of the Californians
to yield without further struggle to the United States
authorities; yet small parties of the more desperate and
revengeful hung about the mountains and roads; refusing
or hesitating to yield obedience to their leaders, who now,
with great unanimity, determined to lay down their arms.
General Flores, with a small force, was known to have taken
the road to Sonora, and it was believed he was on his way
to that province, never to return to California.
So much for Captain Emory's diary. I have gone over
these old matters in years past and have set forth in my book
"California" the aftermath of that unrestful and somewhat
distressful time. And perhaps I can do no better here than
to repeat what I said in my former work. This is the way
the situation appeared to me as the incidents of it came to
a close :
With Stockton and Kearney in full possession of Los
Angeles, and Fremont encamped in the old Mission San Fer-
nando, a few miles away, the Californians gave up all hope
and tried to make the best terms they could with the con-
querors. They seemed to think they would fare better with
Fremont and, accordingly, they sent a delegation to him from
their hiding places in the hills. Fremont received the mes-
sengers courteously and gave them to understand that he
would accept their surrender. He moved his forces south-
ward through the Cahuenga Pass to a point which was prob-
ably the outskirts of Hollywood, and there on January 13,
1847, the famous treaty of capitulation was signed, bearing
the signatures of Col. John C. Fremont as Commander of
the American forces on the ground, and of Andres Pico, Com-
PROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 177
mandante of the Calif omian forces. Flores, the Calif ornian
Commander-in-Chief, was not present, he having turned over
the command to Andres Pico just before this meeting and,
taking to his heels, had fled to the far-away haven of Sonora.
The treaty was drawn up in both Spanish and English
and stipulated that the Californians should deliver up their
artillery and public arms, return peaceably to their homes,
conform to the laws and regulations of the United States and
aid and assist in placing the country in a state of peace and
tranquillity. Colonel Fremont on his part guaranteed the
Californians protection of life and property whether on pa-
role or otherwise.
Colonel Fremont sent the document to General Kearney
at Los Angeles and the next day proceeded with his forces
to that city. The war was at an end.
Many bitter controversies and wretched quarrels grew
out of the conflicting claims of the various military and naval
officers who participated in the conquest of California, and
out of the maze of testimony, pro and con, it is difficult to
determine who was right and who was wrong. Indeed, in
the light of the evidence furnished from many sources, it
appears that there was a measure of justice in the claims of
both the military and naval authorities in California. Kear-
ney and Stockton, Fremont and Mason, Avere all men of ac-
tion and ambition. California was a long way from the seat
of government. Instructions had been issued from both the
War and Navy Departments at Washington to respective
officers. Had there been greater unity of action at Washing-
ton, and clearer expression of the President's wishes with
respect to the occupation of California, it is probable that
much of the friction which sprung up on the Pacific Coast
might have been avoided.
It appears clear that Kearney, whose instructions have
been heretofore quoted, made known to Stockton at San
Diego that he felt himself authorized to assume supreme
authority in California. Stockton later testified that he
offered to relinquish authority at San Diego and that Kear-
ney declined or neglected to assume it. Kearney was then
suffering from wounds inflicted at San Pasqual, and he had
178 LOS ANGELES
lost several of his officers and men who had marched across
the plains with him, and to whom he must have been deeply
attached. Doubtless the physical and mental conditions pro-
duced by these experiences, and his realization that Stockton
had a large naval force and had really made considerable
headway in the occupation of California, led Kearney to
defer the assumption of the authority with which his instruc-
tions vested him. In any event, Stockton assumed full com-
mand of the forces in the march to Los Angeles and con-
tinued the extension of his claims as governor. Kearney, on
reaching Los Angeles, began to resent Stockton's assump-
tion of authority, and with this attitude on his part came a
more determined position on the part of Stockton.
Fremont, who was approaching Los Angeles, reported to
Kearney on learning that Kearney was at Los Angeles, but
upon the signing of the treaty at Cahuenga (Hollywood),
perhaps, suspicioning that there might be a clash of author-
ity, he sent an officer to Los Angeles with the treaty, instead
of immediately going himself. Kearney at last formally
requested Stockton to exhibit his authority for the proposed
organization of a civil government, stating that if he was
without such authority he must demand that Stockton cease
his activities in that line. Stockton replied that a civil gov-
ernment had been established before the arrival of Kearney,
and that he would not yield to Kearney's request. He at once
suspended, or attempted to suspend Kearney from command
of the forces at Los Angeles.
So far as the order related to sailors and marines Stock-
ton probably was within his powers. Kearney then exhibited
his authority from the War Department to Fremont and
issued certain instructions regarding the management of
troops under Fremont's command. Fremont refused to obey
on the grounds that he had accepted his instructions from
Stockton, had been appointed Governor of California by
Stockton, and that he recognized Stockton as having superior
authority. Finding himself without power to enforce his in-
structions and commands, Kearney at once marched with his
dragoons back to San Diego, four days after the signing of
the treaty at Cahuenga.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 179
A battalion of Mormon volunteers, 300 strong, bad now
arrived at San Diego, and tbese troops were left at San Luis
Rey wbile Kearney sailed for Monterey. At Monterey Kear-
ney found Commodore W. Branford Sbubrick, wbo bad ar-
rived on January 22, to succeed Stockton. Commodore Sbub-
rick had already addressed a communication to Fremont, not
knowing of General Kearney's presence in California. Stock-
ton, on January 19, left Fremont in charge at Los Angeles,
having commissioned him Governor, and sailed north. Stock-
ton bad also appointed a Legislative Council on the sixteenth,
but no session of that body was ever held, due principally to
the unwillingness of those selected to serve. For a period of
about fifty days Fremont was recognized by a portion of the
population of California, at least, as Governor.
On February 12, Col. Richard B. Mason arrived in San
Francisco with instructions from Washington which clearly
indicated that the senior officer of the land forces was to be
Civil Governor. Mason was sent to succeed Kearney, as soon
as Kearney could shape matters to leave. Commodore
Sbubrick, wbo had succeeded Stockton and who had already
recognized Kearney's authority, now joined Mason in a pub-
lic statement wherein Mason was declared to be governor,
and Monterey the capital. On March 2d, Commodore Biddle
arrived to succeed Shubrick. All officers, naval and military,
with the exception of Stockton and Fremont, were acting in
harmony. About this time there arrived in San Francisco
the first detachment of a regiment sent out under Colonel
Stevenson from New York.
General Kearney, now having adequate moral and mili-
tary support, sent instructions to Fremont and other officers
in command in the south. Among other things, Fremont was
directed to report at Monterey.
After instructing Captain Owens, in command of the bat-
talion at San Gabriel, to refuse to obey any instructions that
might reach him from any source save himself, Fremont left
for Monterey, arriving there on March 25th. On the same
evening in the company of Tbos. 0. Larkin be paid a formal
call on Kearney. The next day an interview was arranged
between Kearney and Fremont. Fremont objected to the
180 LOS ANGELES
presence of Colonel Mason. At this point Kearney demanded
that Fremont state whether he intended to obey his orders
or not. Fremont left Kearney's presence without commit-
ting himself, but later in the day expressed a willingness to
obey instructions, having first tendered his resignation from
the army, which was refused.
Fremont then returned to Los Angeles. Mason followed
early in April and called on Fremont for a list of appoint-
ments made by him and for all records, civil and military,
in his possession. Before leaving Los Angeles, Colonel Mason
became involved in a quarrel with Fremont which led to a
challenge for a duel which was never fought, though both
parties doubtless had the spirit and courage to end their dif-
ficulties in that manner.
After much friction between Fremont and the officers in
the north, General Kearney, on May 31st, with an escort, left
Monterey for Washington by a northern route. Under or-
ders of Kearney, Fremont was required to accompany him.
Fort Leavenworth was reached on August 22, and here Fre-
mont was placed under arrest and ordered to report to the
Adjutant General at Washington.
With the end of all these troubles Los Angeles settled
down to its fate and its undreamed-of destiny as an Ameri-
can city. The Act of Incorporation as passed by the State
Legislature was approved by California's first American
Governor, Honorable Peter H. Burnett, April 4, 1850, and
was as follows:
An Act to incorporate the City of Los Angeles.
The people of the State of California represented in Sen-
ate and Assembly, do enact as follows :
Section 1. All that tract of land included within the limits
of the Pueblo de Los Angeles, as heretofore known and
acknowledged, shall henceforth be known as the City of Los
Angeles; and the said City is hereby declared to be incor-
porated according to the provisions of the act, entitled "An
act to provide for the incorporation of cities," approved
March 18, 1850 :
Provided, however, that if such limits include more than
four square miles, the Council shall within three months
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 181
after they are elected and qualified, fix by ordinance the
limits of the city, not to include more than said quantity of
land, and the boundaries so determined shall henceforth be
the boundaries of the city.
Sec. 2. The number of Councilmen shall be seven. The
first election of city officers shall be on the second Monday of
May next.
Sec. 3. The corporation created by this act, shall suc-
ceed to all the rights, claims and powers of the Pueblo de Los
Angeles in regard to property, and shall be subject to all the
liabilities incurred and obligations created by the Ayunta-
miento of said Pueblo.
John Bigler,
Speaker of House of Assembly.
E. Kieby Chamberlain,
President pro tern of the Senate.
A map of the city on which boundary lines were estab-
lished as a basis for the above-mentioned Act of Incorporation
had been made the year before, namely, in 1849, by Lieutenant
Ord. The incident is famous in history as "Ord's Survey,"
and the circumstances which brought the survey about are
both quaint and interesting. Fortunately, we have an
authentic record of the same taken from the minutes of the
Town Council of Los Angeles for June 9, 1849. This is the
record of the minutes:
"In view of a note received from the superior territorial
Government, ordering the making of a city map to serve as
a basis for granting vacant city lots out of the unappropriated
lands belonging to the municipality, Council resolved :
"1st. That the said Superior Government be assured of
the committee 's desire to give prompt and due compliance to
its order, and to inform the same that there is no city map
in existence whereby concessions of land may be made, and,
furthermore that there is no surveyor in this town who could
get up such a map.
"2nd. That this Honorable body desiring to have this
done, requests the territorial government to send down a sur-
veyor to do this work, for which he will receive pay out of
the municipal funds, and should they not suffice, by reason of
182 LOS ANGELES
other demands having to be met, then he can be paid with
unappropriated lands should the government give its consent.
"Your committee charged by your Honorable body with
the duty of conferring with Lieutenant Ord, the surveyor who
is to get out a map of this city, has had a conference with that
gentleman and he offers to make a map of the city, demarking
thereon in a clear and exact manner, the boundary lines and
points of the municipal lands, for which work he demands a
compensation of fifteen hundred dollars in coin, ten lots se-
lected from among those demarked on the map and vacant
lands to the extent of one thousand varas, in sections of 200
varas each, and wheresoever he may choose to select the same,
or in case this proposition is refused, then he wants to be paid
the sum of three thousand dollars in cash. Your committee
finds the first proposition very disadvantageous to the city,
because conceding to the surveyor the right to select not only
the said ten lots, but also the thousand varas of vacant land,
the city would deprive itself of the most desirable lands and
lots which some future day may bring more than three thou-
sand dollars.
"The City funds cannot now defray this expense, but
should your Honorable body deem it indispensable a loan of
that amount may be negotiated, pledging the credit of the City
Council and paying an interest of one per cent a month ; this
loan could be repaid with the proceeds of the sale of the first
lots disposed of."
"The same day the president was authorized to negotiate
a loan of three thousand dollars and provision was made for
the sale of lots from the proceeds of which the loan was to be
paid.
"On the 19th day of September the syndic, Juan Temple,
submitted to the Council the 'Finished city map, as well as
a receipt showing that he had paid the surveyor the sum of
three thousand dollars, this amount being a loan made by
him to the city, to enable it to pay for the map."
The following December, 41 lots in the survey were sold
out of a total of 60 offered, from which the Council realized
$2,490, which was paid to Juan Temple on account, leaving
a balance of $510 in his favor, which the Council pledged itself
to pay out of the proceeds of the first lots sold in the future.
CHAPTER X
PIONEERS OP TRADE AND COMMERCE
We are indebted to our old friends of blessed memory who
formed the "Literary Committee of Los Angeles," in 1876,
and who are held in the esteem of recollection by their Amer-
ican countrymen of today, for a relation of facts concerning
the pioneer business men of Los Angeles and their activities
in the days when the city was in the making.
According to the Literary Committee San Pedro was often
lively in 1840 — and had been so in mission times — by the trad-
ing vessels engaged, with active competition, in the purchase
of hides and tallow. Francis Melius gives a list of those on
this coast, August 22d of that year, thirteen in number, as
follows: "Ships— California (Capt. Arthur), Alciope
(Clapp), Monsoon (Vincent), Alert (Phelps); Barques— In-
dex (Scott), Clara (Walters); Brigs— Juan Jose (Dunkin),
Bolivar (Nye) ; Schooners— Fly (Wilson), California (Coo-
per), Nymph, formerly Norse (Fitch), and two more ex-
pected. ' '
From 1844 to 1849 the merchants at Los Angeles City were
John Temple, Abel Stearns, Charles W. Flugge — found dead
September 1, 1852, on the plains below this city — B. D. Wilson,
Albert Packard and Alexander Bell. To these add, in 1849,
Antonio Cota, Jose Antonio Menondez, from Spain; Juan
Domingo, Netherlands ; Jose Mascarel of Marseilles, and John
Behn of the Grand Duchy of Baden. The last named came in
1848. He quit business in the fall of 1853 and died in Decem-
ber, 1868.
Madame Salandie is to be added to those of '49. She came
on the same ship with Lorenzo Lecke from Pennsylvania in
that year, started at once a little store, butcher shop, loaning
money and general speculation.
183
184 LOS ANGELES
Juan Domingo came to California in 1829, married here,
was quite noted, and died December 20, 1858.
The first steamer that ever visited San Pedro Avas the Gold-
hunter, in 1849 — a side wheeler, which made the voyage from
San Francisco to Mazatlan, touching at way ports. The next
was the old Ohio. At San Pedro, from 1844 to 1849, Temple
and Alexander had the only general store, and they carried on
all the forwarding business. They had the first four wheel
vehicle in this county, except an old fashioned Spanish car-
riage which this firm bought of Captain Kanem, Major Gra-
ham's quartermaster, in January, 1849, paying him $1,000 for
the carriage and two American horses. It created a sensation
like that of the first Wilmington railway car on the 26th day
of October, 1868.
Goods were forwarded to Los Angeles, twenty-four miles,
in carts, each with two yoke of oxen, yoked by the horns.
The regular train was of ten carts, like the California car-
retas. The body was the same, but they had spoked wheels
tired, which were imported from Boston. Freight was $1 per
hundred weight. This style of importation continued until
after 1850.
The first stage line was started by Alexander and Ban-
ning in 1852; the next by that man of iron, J. J. Tomlinson,
whose death was early for the public good, June 7, 1867. In
1851, D. W. Alexander purchased at Sacramento ten heavy
freight wagons that had been sent in from Salt Lake by Ben
Holliday, and in 1853 a whole train, 14 wagons and 168 mules,
that had come through from Chihuahua, paying therefor
$23,000. So ox-carts were supplanted.
Alexander and Melius became a new firm, at Los Angeles
City, in 1850, continuing until 1856. Wilson and Packard dis-
solved partnership December, 1851. Other merchants were:
Jacob Elias, Charles Ducommon, Samuel Arbuckle, Walde-
mar, O. W. Childs and J. D. Hicks— Childs and Hicks ; Charles
Burroughs, M. Michaels, H. Jacoby, of violin celebrity, and
who went rich to Europe, Jordan, Jose Vicente Guerrero,
Jose Maria Fuentes, Jose Baltazar of Prussia, Eimpau,
Fritze and Company, with Morris L. Goodwin as clerk, John
Behn and Frank Laumeistre, a German; afterward, in the
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 185
same year, Behn & Laumeistre, and Mattias Savichi. The
latter named estimable gentleman was of Dalmatia. He died
in 1852, leaving two young sons. George Walters also had
commenced business in this year. He was born at New Or-
leans, April 22, 1809.
Mr. B. D. Wilson was Indian agent for Southern California
in 1853, and in the same year sold his place on Alameda Street
to the Sisters of Charity for their institute; and in 1854 be-
gan to put into effect his plans for Lake Vineyard. He re-
moved there in 1856. Mr. Packard went to Santa Barbara,
entered into the practice of law. Wheeler & Morgan began
in 1849 with trading establishments at Rincon, San Luis Bey,
Pala, Agua Caliente. They, in fact, succeeded Wilson & Pack-
ard, in their store, in August, 1850. Mr. Wheeler was clerk
of the U. S. District Court of the southern district of Califor-
nia from 1861 until its discontinuance in 1866; then deputy
clerk of the circuit and later deputy collector of U. S. internal
revenue of second division, first district, comprising Los An-
geles, San Bernardino and San Diego counties, which office
he resigned January 1, 1876.
In 1851-52-53 appear Lazard, Arbuckle & Bauman, Lazard
& Bauman, S. Lazard & Company, Lazard & Kremer, Doug-
lass & Sanford, 1852, Childs, Hicks & Wadhams, Thomas
Brown and Prudent Beaudry, Myles & Hereford, Bauman &
Katz, Hoffman & Laubheim, Thomas S. Hereford, J. S.
Mallard.
In January, 1853, there were three large dry goods stores
and ten or more smaller houses that also kept a general as-
sortment. Half a dozen other sold groceries and provisions
exclusively. The liquor shop — its name was "legion."
In 1853 John Schumacher introduced lager beer, from San
Francisco. It was not manufactured at Los Angeles until
Christopher Kuhn of Wirtemberg established a brewery in
the latter part of 1854.
John Kays was a good baker, 1847. Confectionery was
made in 1850, by Papier; Joseph Lelong followed with the
Jenny Lind Bakery in 1851. French bread was used alto-
gether until August Ulyard commenced his bakery in 1853.
The merchants of 1853 besides those already mentioned
186 LOS ANGELES
were Joseph Newmark, Jacob Rich, J. P. Newmark, John
Jones, who was the first wholesale liquor dealer, at the corner
of Main and Commercial streets. Others were Felix Bach-
man, Phillip Sichel and Samuel Laubheim, Harris Newmark
and E. Loewenthal, H. K. S. Labatt, Samuel Meyer and Loe-
wenstein, M. Norton and E. Greenbaum, H. Goldberg, I. Co-
hen, Charles E. Johnson and Horace S. Allanson, Heiman
Tischler, Barruch, Marks and Loeb Schlessinger, Matthew
Lanfranco, Louis Phillips, H. Hellman, Casper Behrend.
In 1854 were Adolph Portugal, O. W. Childs, Samuel Pra-
ger, Jacob Letter, M. Pollock and L. C. Goodwin. In 1855,
Wolf Kalisher, Charles Prager, Potter & Company, William
Corbett, G. F. Lamson, P. C. Williams, J. C. Nichols, Dean &
Carson, I. M. Hellman, B. Cohen, Morritz Schlessinger, L.
Glaser & Company, Louis Cohen. In 1856, Calisher & Cohen,
Henry Wartenberg — W. Calisher & Company. In 1857, Men-
del Meyer, H. G. Yarrow. In 1857, Samuel Hellman. 1859, I.
W. Hellman, eminent afterward as banker, L. Leon, Corbett
& Barker, Wm. Nordholt, David Solomon, H. Fleishman and
Julius Sichel — Fleishman & Sichel.
In 1860, Edward Newman and Isaac Schlessinger, Jean B.
Trudell — in company with Lazards — Domingo Rivera. In
1861, M. W. Childs.
The mercantile link continued as follows: J. H. Still &
Company, booksellers and stationery, 1863 ; H. D. Barrows
and J. D. Hicks — J. D. Hicks & Co., 1864. Eugene Meyer and
Constant Meyer — Eugene Meyer & Co. — Polaski & Goodwin,
1865 ; Thomas Leahy, S. B. Caswell and John F. Ellis— Cas-
well & Ellis— 1866. Potter & Co. consisted of Nehemiah A
Potter and Louis Jazinsky. The latter gentleman soon after-
ward went into business at San Francisco. George Alexander,
in 1872, removed to Columbia, California.
Francis Melius was born at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1824
and died at Los Angeles City, September 14, 1864. He mar-
ried Miss Adelaida Johnson, who survived him with seven
children. Mrs. Melius was a daughter of Don Santiago John-
son, an Englishman, who had lived at Sonora, and came to
this coast in the year 1833. He married Doha Maria del Car-
men Giurado, sister of the wives of Don Manuel Requena and
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 187
Alexander Bell. Brought early in contact with men like A. B.
Thompson of Santa Barbara, David Spence of Monterey, Abel
Stearns, Alfred Robinson, W. D. M. Howard, and himself
having received the ordinary Boston high school education of
that day — which must have been good, for at fifteen years
he understood French and navigation, and was a neat drafts-
man — Mr. Melius soon amassed the maximum of experience
which fitted him to succeed in the California trade. His spirit
and independence are worthy to be made a model by youth
just entering among the currents and shoals of commercial
life. "March 4, 1839, — The Bolivar arrived from the islands,"
we quote from his diary: "March 9. — I went aboard as clerk
for Mr. Thompson, at $300 for the first year and $500 for the
next, which I think is a most excellent salary for me. I hope
from this time forward to be a burden to nobody, but to be
able to look out for myself. ' '
Bachman & Co. invested deeply in the Salt Lake trade.
Merchants were the soul of every enterprise formed to de-
velop the resources and expand the commerce of this country.
Fortunes were rapidly accumulated. Some sped away to
fatherland to spend the rest of their days. Soloman Lazard
having once more beheld "la belle France," returned March,
1861, to our sunshine and flowers. Mendel Meyer studied the
Vienna Exposition and wandered the world over in gratifica-
tion of a rare musical taste, "but to feel better at home," as he
often says.
John Temple made the European tour in 1858. He was
born at Reading, Massachusetts, in 1796; came to California
in 1828, and died at San Francisco May 30, 1866. Juan T.
Lanfranco of Italy died May 20, 1875. Prudent Beaudry ar-
rived at San Francisco April 26, 1850, and settled finally at
Los Angeles, April 26, 1852. Beaudry 's Block, on Aliso
Street, finished in 1857, was at the time a surprise. What may
we have said to "Beaudry Terrace" and its oranges and other
magical fruits of his energy? Edward Neuman, another mer-
chant, in the bloom of youth was murdered in 1863, on the
Cucamonga plain.
From 1850 to 1860 and thereabouts, the cattle trade and
shipment of grapes were the main reliance for money. The
Looking West on Temple Street op Today
Looking North-west From Third Street and Grand Avenue
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 189
cattle sold to go out of the county, in the former year, were
estimated at 15,000 head, at $15 per head. Subsequent years,
until 1856, show a constant demand for stock, if not so great ;
in this year, it was considered that $500,000 had been invested
in cattle, three-fifths of which belonged to native Californians,
and, in part, distributed as follows :
Abel Stearns, 12,000; Juan Abila, 7,200; John Roland,
5,000 ; William Workman, 5,000 ; John Temple, 4,000 ; Ricardo
Vejar, 3,500 ; Bernardo Yorba, 3,500 ; Ignacio del Valle, 3,500 ;
Teodosio Yorba, 3,500; Leonardo Cota, 2,500; Vicente Lugo,
2,500; Pio and Andres Pico, 2,000; Augustin Machado, 2,000;
Nasario Dominguez 's estate, 2,000 ; Felipe Lugo, 1,000 ; Valdez
family, 1,000; Enrique Abila, 1,000; Fernando Sepulveda,
1,000. Making just allowance for defective assessments, the
amount was probably considerably — one-third — beyond this
estimate.
The drought of the years 1863 and 1864 was more or less
destructive throughout California. In Los Angeles County
1865 began with 90,450 head of cattle, 15,529 horses, 282,000
sheep. In earlier times sheep made little figure in the annual
calculation of gain. In 1875 the total of flocks was counted
at 508,757. From 1860 onward wool became a staple, added
to wine and brandy, orange and other fruits, wheat and corn.
According to the report of the county surveyor, January 15,
1876, the product of the wool was 2,034,828 pounds. Horned
cattle were reduced to 13,000 ; horses, 10,000.
All the oranges in 1850 were from the Mission orchard of
San Gabriel, and the gardens of Louis Vignes and William
Wolfskill. June 7, 1851, Mr. Vignes offered for sale his "de-
sirable property, El Alizo" — so called from the superb syca-
more tree, many centuries old, that shaded his cellars. He
says: "There are two orange gardens that yield from five to
six thousand oranges in the season." It is credibly stated
that he was the first to plant the orange in this city, bringing
young trees from San Gabriel in the year 1834. He had 400
peach trees, together with apricots, pear, apple, fig, grapes
and walnut, and adds: "The vineyard, with 40,000 vinos.
32,000 now bearing grapes, and will yield 1,000 barrels of
wine per annum, the quality of which is well known to be su-
190 LOS ANGELES
perior. ' ' Don Louis came to Los Angeles in 1831. He was a
native of France.
The shipment of oranges rapidly grew into a regular busi-
ness. In 1851 there were 104 vineyards, exclusive of that of
San Gabriel — all but twenty within the limits of the city. The
San Gabriel Vineyard, neglected since 1834, was now in de-
cay. In Spanish and Mexican times it had been called the
"mother vineyard," from the fact that it supplied all the
original cuttings; it is said to have once had 50,000 vines. In
1875 the grape vines of this county numbered 4,500,000.
In 1851 grapes brought 20 cents per pound at San Fran-
cisco, 80 cents at Stockton. Through 1852 the price was the
same. Very little wine was then shipped ; in 1851 not over
1,000 gallons. Gradually the manufacture of wine was estab-
lished. Wolfskill indeed had, at an early date, shipped a little
wine, but his aim was to turn his grapes into brandy. Louis
Wilhart, in 1849 and 1850, made white wine which was consid-
ered in flavor and quality next to that of Vignes, who could
produce from his cellars a brand perhaps unexcelled through
the world. Among the first manufacturers for the general
market was Vincent Hoover, with his father, Dr. Juan Leonce
Hoover, first at the "Clayton Vineyard," which, owing to its
situation on the bench, produced a superior grape ; then from
the vineyard known as that of Don Jose Serrano.
The cultivation of the gi*ape about this time took a new
impulse. At San Gabriel, Wm. M. Stockton, in 1855, had an
extensive nursery of grape vines and choice fruit trees. Jo-
seph Huber, senior, came to Los Angeles for health from
Kentucky. In the year 1855 he entered successfully into wine-
making at the Foster Vineyard. He died, aged fifty-four
years, July, 1866, leaving a widow and six children. April 14,
1855, Jean Louis Sansevaine purchased the vineyard prop-
erty, cellars, etc., of his uncle, Louis Vignes, for $42,000 (the
first large sale within the city). In 1855 he shipped his first
wine to San Francisco. In 1856 he made the first shipment
from this county to New York, thereby becoming the pioneer
of this business.
Matthew Keller said: "According to the books of the
great forwarding house of P. Banning at San Pedro, there
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 191
was shipped to San Francisco in 1857, 21,000 boxes of grapes
and 250,000 gallons of wine." In 1856 Los Angeles yielded
only 7,200 cases of wine; in 1860 it had increased to 66,000
cases. In 1861 shipments of wine were made to New York
and Boston by B. D. Wilson and J. L. Sansevaine ; they were
the real fathers of the wine interest here.
Sunny Slope, unexcelled for its vintage, and the orange,
almond and walnut, was commenced by L. J. Rose in January,
1861. December, 1859, the wine producers were: Matthew
Keller, Sansevaine Bros., Frohling & Co., B. D. Wilson, Ste-
vens & Bell, Doctor Parrott, Dr. T. J. White, Henry Dalton,
P. Series, Joseph Huber, Sr., Ricardo Vejar, Barrows, Bal-
lerino, Doctor Hoover, Louis Wilhart, Trabuc, Clement and
Jose Serrano. The total manufacture of wine was about
250,000 gallons; in 1875, 1,328,900 gallons, according to the
official report of the county assessor, January 1, 1876.
Mechanical industry exhibits a progress slow and difficult
for the first few years. In 1851 carpenters had gone to San
Francisco, where they could get higher wages. In 1850 Alex-
ander Bell commenced Bell's Row, which was a number of
well-known little stores on Los Angeles Street, and an im-
provement which at the time made a sensation. This work
was done by J. R. Barton and William Nordholdt through
that and the succeeding year.
In 1853 Anderson & Matthews advertised as carriage mak-
ers, carpenters and joiners. September 6, 1861, Perry &
Woodworth, Main Street, had matured their pioneer saw and
planing mills, with the manufacture of beehives, upholstery,
etc., and were prepared for contracting. In 1863 Stephen H.
Mott entered this firm.
Eli Tayor, later of Los Nietos, was a carpenter in 1854.
Others were as follows prior to 1859: George Stone, R. E.
Jackson, George Leonard, Matthew Teed, Thomas Grey, C. P.
Switzer, Peter Hendell, William Coburn, P. C. Williams, Har-
ris Niles, John McLimond, Willis Stanton, W. Weeks, William
Cover, Herman Muller, Herman Koop, Charles Plaissant.
House and sign painters, prior to 1859 were Wm. Shanning,
Moses Searles, Charles Winston, Tom Riley, Forbes, Spilling,
Viereck, Turnboldt; plasterers prior to 1857, Joseph Nobbs,
192 LOS ANGELES
T. Stonehouse, Wm. McKinney; Newton Foote came in that
year. Andrew Lehman set up a shoemaking business in
November, 1852; it was three years before he began to "make
a living. ' ' Afterward, prior to 1858 came Morris and Weber.
There was little to do for shoemakers until 1860. B. J. Virgin
was an architect in 1855. Viereck, painter of political trans-
parencies in 1852, left next year for want of employment. But
it must have been for some other reason, for he turned come-
dian at San Francisco. In 1857 C. M. Kechnie was a portrait
painter. Henri Penelon afterward was a distinguished artist.
John Goller, a blacksmith and pioneer wagon-maker, was
one of the emigrants by the Salt Lake Route. Louis Wilhart
outfitted him with tools and helped him to customers. The
charge for shoeing a horse was $16. Few carriages were
made during the first six or eight years. E. L. Scott & Co.
were carriage makers and blacksmiths in 1855. Louis Boeder
came to Los Angeles in 1856, worked nine years for Goller,
then bought out J. H. Burke, later a wealthy citizen of Los
Nietos, and in 1863, with Wm. Schwartz, blacksmith, as part-
ner, set up for himself on Main Street.
Ben McLaughlin also was a wheelwright. Among the early
blacksmiths were Hiram McLaughlin, C. F. Daley, Van Dusen,
George Boorham, Henry King. John Wilson came August 20,
1858, and set up for himself in 1868. James Baldwin, some-
time after 1858. Of gunsmiths, August Stoermer came in
that year. He was preceded in 1855 by H. C. G. Schaeffer.
In the memory of old citizens, from his former little adobe
shop, it is a step into a garden where bloomed the choicest
flowers of the world. He was still devoted, at sixty-five to
floriculture.
S. C. Foy, in 1854, started his saddlery — the first to make
any kind of harness. John Foy joined his brother in the fol-
lowing summer. These spirited pioneers led the way soon
to flourishing firms in the same line — the brothers Workman,
Bell & Green, Heinche, D. Garcia.
The first bricks were made by Capt. Jesse D. Hunter in
1852. From the first kiln was built the house at the corner
of Third and Main streets in 1853; from the second, in the
same year, the new brick jail. In 1854 was built the Guadalupe
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 193
Ross bouse. In 1855 the dwelling and store of J. G. Nichols
on Main Street, near the courthouse. Joseph Mullaly and
Samuel Ayers, coming here in 1854, embarked in brick making
the nest month. In August of the same year, David Porter
arrived. The firm was then Mullaly, Porter & Ayers. Their
"great year" was 1858, when they sold 2,000,000 of brick for
the proposed improvements of 1859.
From 1855 to 1859 there is a hiatus which cannot be better
filled than with the "Garden of Paradise," at the Round
House, begun in 1856 by George Lehman, and which was a
wonder to all by its mystic Adam and Eve, with the profusion
of flowers and ingenious disposition of parterre and tree. In
1859 John Temple built and delivered to the city the market
house, with its town clock and bell so "fine toned and sonor-
ous," at a cost of $40,000. He also constructed the south
end of Temple Block. October 22d Don Abel Stearns rejoiced
in the finishing touch to his prided undertaking, the Arcadia
Block, bearing the the name of his wife, Dona Arcadia Ban-
dini — like the good ship, Arcadia, of Mr. Stearns and Alfred
Robinson, that brought the second invoice of goods directly
from Boston to San Pedro. In the same month Corbett and
Baker removed into the northeast corner of the block, and it
was soon filled. Then, too, the dining hall, just finished, of
the Bella Union, was reported "one of the finest in Califor-
nia." The prevailing spirit awhile embraced the Plaza within
its range. It proved to advantage to all who heeded it,
although good William Wolfskill had forebodings, in Decem-
ber, 1860, on his return from the burial of Henry Melius.
"What a pity!" he said; "if Temple had not built so much
he might now be a rich man!" And, at last, Mr. Wolf skill
himself ran with the tide and spent $20,000 to build the Lazard
Store, Main Street, in 1866. It was completed by his exec-
utors.
A once well-known lady of Los Angeles who used to do
her "shopping" here seventy years ago, has written a vivid
pen picture of the stories of Los Angeles as they were in the
year 1850. Her recollections are as follows :
If a person walking down Broadway or Spring Street, at
the present day, could turn "Time backward in his flight"
View on the Present Main Street
The Los Angeles Reservoir
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 195
seventy years, how strange the contrast would seem. Where
now stand blocks of stately buildings, whose windows are
aglow with all the beauties of modern art, instead there would
be two or three streets whose business centered in a few
"tiendas," or stores, decorated with strings of "chilis" or
jerked beef. The one window of each tienda was barred with
iron, the "tiendero" sitting in the doorway to protect his
wares, or to watch for customers. Where red and yellow
brick buildings hold their heads proudly to the heavens now,
seventy years ago the soft hills slid down to the back doors of
the adobe dwelling and offered their wealth of flowers and
wild herbs to the botanist. Sidewalks were unknown, pedes-
trians marched single file in the middle of the street, in winter
to enjoy the sunshine, in summer to escape the trickling tears
of "brea" which, dropping from the roofs, branded their linen
or clogged their footsteps. Now where the policeman "wends
his weary way," the vaquero with his lively "cuidado" (look-
out) lassoed his wild steer, and dragging him to the "man-
tanza" at the rear of his dwelling, offered him on the altar
of hospitality.
Among the most prominent stores in the '50s were those
of Labat Bros., Foster & McDougal, afterward Foster &
Wadhams, of B. D. Wilson, Abel Stearns, S. Lazard's City
of Paris, 0. W. Childs, Chas. Ducommon, J. G. Downey, Schu-
macher, Goller, Lew Bow & Jayzinsky. With the exception
of 0. W. Childs, Chas. Ducommon, J. G. DoAyney, John Goller
and Jayzinsky, all carried general merchandise, which meant
anything from a plow to a box of sardines, or from a needle
to an anchor. Some merchants sold sugar and silks, others
brogans and barrels of flour. Goller 's was a wagon and car-
riage shop. 0. W. Childs' first sign read "tins to mend."
Jayzinsky 's stock consisted principally of clocks, but as the
people of California cared little for time, and only recorded
it like Indians, by the sun, he soon failed. Afterwards he
engaged in the hardware business with N. A. Potter.
Jokes were often played upon the storekeepers to while
away the time. Thus, one Christmas night, when the spirit
of fun ran high and no policeman was on the scene, some
voung men who felt themselves "sold" along with the articles
196 LOS ANGELES
purchased, effaced the first syllable of Wadhams' name and
substituted "old" in its place, making it Oldhams, and thus
avenging themselves.
It was almost impossible to procure anything eatable from
abroad that was not strong and lively enough to remove itself
from one 's presence before cooking. It was not the fault of the
vender, but of the distance and difficulty in transportation.
Mr. Ducommon and Mr. Downey arrived in Los Angeles
together. Mr. Ducommon was a watchmaker, and Mr. Downey
a druggist. Each had a small stock in trade, which they
packed in a "carreta" for transportation from San Pedro to
Los Angeles. On the journey the cart broke down, and pack-
ing the most valuable of their possessions into carpet sacks,
they walked the remaining distance. Mr. Ducommon soon
branched out in business, and his store became known as the
most reliable one in his line, keeping the best goods, although
at enormous prices. Neither Mr. Downey nor any other
druggist could have failed to make money in the early '50s,
when common Epsom salts retailed at the rate of $5 per
pound, and everything else was in proportion. One deliber-
ated long before sending for a doctor in those days. Fortu-
nately the climate was such that his services were not often
needed.
Perhaps the most interesting window display in the city
in the early '50s was that of Don Abel Stearns, wherein
common candy jars filled with gold, from the finest dust to
"chispas," or nuggets, could be seen from the street adorning
the shelves. As gold and silver coin were scarce, the natives
working the placer mines in the adjoining mountains made
their purchases with gold dust. Tied in a red silk handker-
chief, tucked into the waistband of their trousers, would be
their week's earnings; this, poured carelessly into the scales
and as carelessly weighed, soon filled the jars. What dust
remained was shaken out of its folds, and the handkerchief
returned to its place. No wonder that the native became the
victim of sharpers and money lenders ; taking no thought of
the morrow, he lived on, letting his inheritance slip from his
grasp.
The pioneer second hand store of Los Angeles was kept
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 197
by a man named Yarrow, or old "Cuarto Ojos" (four eyes),
as the natives called him, because of the large spectacles he
wore, and the habit he had of looking over them, giving him
the appearance of having four eyes. Probably, however, this
sobriquet attached to him because his glasses had four lenses,
two in front and one on each side. His store was on the
corner of Eequena and Los Angeles streets, in the rear of
where the United States Hotel still stands. The store room
was a long, low adobe building with the usual store front of
that day — a door and a narrow window. This left the back
part of the long store almost in utter darkness, which prob-
ably gave rise to the uncanny tradition that certain persons,
of reputed wealth, but strangers to the town, had been enticed
into his dark interior to their undoing, and that, like the fly
in the spider's den, they "ne'er came out again." This idle
tale was all owing to Yarrow's spectacles — for in those days
all men who wore glasses were under suspicion, the feeling
being that they were to conceal their general motives and
designs, which were hidden by the masque of spectacles, and
were suspected to be murderers.
In the "tienda" of "Cuarto Ojos" were heaped together
all sorts and conditions of things, very much as they are now
in second hand stores, but the articles differed widely in kind
and quality from those found in such stores today. Old
"Cuarto Ojos" combined pawn broking and money lending
with his other business. In close contact with the highly
colored shawls, rebosos, gold necklaces, silver mounted frenos
and heavily embroidered muchillas, hung treacherous looking
machetes, silver mounted revolvers and all the trappings and
paraphernalia of the robber and the gambler out of luck, and
forced there to stand and deliver as collateral for loans from
old "Cuarto Ojos."
Coming up Eequena Street and crossing Main to the
southwest corner of Main and Court streets one arrived at
the pioneer auction house of 1850. Here George F. Lamson
persuaded the visitors to his store into buying wares that at
the present day would find their way to the rubbish heaps of
the city. This story is told of his sale, of a decrepit bureau :
"Ladies and gentlemen — ladies minus and gentlemen scarce,"
198
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
said the genial auctioneer, "here is the finest piece of ma-
hogany ever brought across the plains or around the Horn —
four deep drawers and keys to all of them; don't lose this
bargain, it is one in a thousand ! " It was knocked down to
a personal friend of the auctioneer for the modest sum of $24.
After the sale the purchaser ventured to ask for the keys.
An Old-time Locality
The Plaza, Pico House and Old Gas "Works
"Why," said Lanison, "when I put up that article I never
expected you would be fool enough to buy it. There are no
keys, and more than that, there is no need of keys, for there
are no locks to it."
On Los Angeles Street in the same location where it stands
today was kept by Sam C. Foy, stood and still stands the
pioneer saddlery of Los Angeles.
Of the pioneer merchants of those days, Mr. Harris New-
mark was the founder of a house still in existence. If any
FROil THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 199
youth of Los Angeles would see for himself how honesty and
strict attention to business commands success, let him visit
the establishment of Mr. Newmark and his successors.
In the early '50s some merchants were accused of getting
their hands into their neighbors ' pockets, or rather of charg-
ing exorbitant prices to the depletion of the contents of their
neighbors' purses. These same merchants never refused to
go down into their own pockets for sweet charity's sake. If a
collection was to be taken up for some charitable object, all
that was necessary was to make the round of the stores, and
money was poured into tbe hat without a question of what
was to be done with it. Now we have the Associated Charities
and all sorts of charitable institutions, but for liberal and un-
questioning giving, we take off our hats to the "stores of
1850."
Prof. J. M. Guinn, about twenty years ago, related to the
members of the Southern California Historical Society the
result of his researches concerning the advertising methods
of pioneer Los Angeles merchants. Professor Guinn looked
up the old files of the Los Angeles Star, which was the great
newspaper of the town in the early days. Professor Guinn
said:
Recently, in looking over, some copies of the Los Angeles
Star of fifty years ago, I was amused and interested by the
quaint ways the advertisers of that day advertised their wares
and other things. Department stores are great advertisers,
and the pioneer department store of Los Angeles was no ex-
ception. Its ad actually filled a half column of the old Star,
which was an astonishing display in type for those days. It
was not called a department store then, but I doubt whether
any of the great stores of Chicago or New York carry on so
many lines of business as did that general merchandise store
that was kept in the adobe house on the corner of Arcadia
and North Main streets fifty years ago. The proprietors of
that store were our old pioneer friends, Wheeler & Johnson.
The announcement of what they had to sell was prefaced by
the following philosophical deductions, which are as true and
as applicable to terrestrial affairs today as they were half a
century ago:
200 LOS ANGELES
"Old things are passing away," says the ad; "behold all
things have become new. Passing events impress us with
the mutability of human affairs. The earth and its appurte-
nances are constantly passing from one phase to another.
Change and consequent progress is the manifest law of des-
tiny. The forms and customs of the past are become obsolete
and new and enlarged ideas are silently but swiftly moulding
terrestrial matters on a scale of enhanced magnificence and
utility.
"Perhaps no greater proof of these propositions can be
adduced than the evident fact that the old mercantile system
heretofore pursued in this community with its 7x9 stores, its
exorbitant prices, its immense profits, its miserable assort-
ments of shop-rotten goods that have descended from one de-
funct establishment to another through a series of years,
greeting the beholder at his every turn as if craving his pity
by a display of their forlorn, mouldy and dusty appearance.
These rendered venerable by age are now considered relics
and types of the past.
"The ever-expanding mind of the public demands a new
state of things. It demands new goods, lower prices, better
assortments, and more accommodations. The people ask for
a suitable consideration for their money and they shall have
the same at the new and magnificent establishment of
"WHEELER & JOHNSON,
"in the House of Don Abel Stearns, on Main Street, where
they have just received $50,000 worth of the best and most
desirable merchandise ever brought to the country."
When the customer had been sufficiently impressed by the
foregoing propositions and deductions they proceed to
enumerate, and here are a few of the articles :
"Groceries, soap, oil, candles, tobacco, cigars, salt, pipes,
powder, shot, lead. Provisions, flour, bread, port, hams,
bacon, sugar, coffee. Dry Goods, broadcloths, cassimeres,
blankets, alpacas, cambrics, lawns, ginghams, twist, silks,
satins, colored velvet, nets, crepe, scarlet bandas, bonnets,
lace, collars, needles, pins.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 201
"Boots, shoes, hats, coats, pants, vests, suits, cravats,
gloves, hosiery.
"Furniture, crockery, glassware, mirrors, lamps, chande-
liers, agricultural implements, hardware, tools, cutlery, house
furnishing goods, liquors, wines, cigars, wood and willow
ware, brushes, trunks, paints, oils, tinware and cooking stoves.
"Our object is to break down monopoly."
Evidently their method of breaking down monopoly was
to monopolize the whole business of the town.
When we recall the fact that all of this vast assortment
was stored in one room and sold over the same counter we
must admire the dexterity of the salesman who could keep
bacon and lard from mixing with the silks and satins, or the
paints and oils from leaving their impress on the broadcloths
and velvets.
Ladies ' bonnets were kept in stock. The saleslady had not
yet made her appearance in Los Angeles, so it was the sales
gentleman that sold bonnets. Imagine him fresh from sup-
plying a purchaser with a side of bacon, and then fitting a
bonnet on the head of a lady customer, giving it the proper
tilt and sticking the hat pin into the coil of her hair and not
into her cranium. Fortunately for the salesman, the bonnets
of that day were capacious affairs, modeled after the prairie
schooner, and did not need hat pins to hold them on.
The old time department store sales gentleman was a
genius in the mercantile line; he could dispose of anything
from a lady's lace collar to a caballada of broncos.
Here is the quaint advertisement of our pioneer barber.
The pioneer barber of Los Angeles was Peter Biggs — a gen-
tleman of color who came to the state as a slave with his
master, but attained his freedom shortly after his arrival.
He set up a hair cutting and shaving saloon. The price for
hair cutting was a dollar — shaving 50 cents. In the Star of
1853 he advertises a reduction of 50 per cent. Hair cutting
50 cents, shampooing 50 cents, shaving 25 cents. In addition
to his tonsorial services he advertises that he blacks boots,
wait on and tends parties, runs errands, takes in clothes to
wash, iron and mend; cuts, splits and carries in wood; and in
short performs any work, honest and respectable, to earn a
202 LOS ANGELES
genteel living and accommodate his fellow creatures. For
character he refers to all the gentlemen in Los Angeles. Think
of what a character he must have had.
There is often both tragedy and comedy, as well as busi-
ness, mixed up in advertisements. In the Star of forty-eight
years ago appears the ad of a great prize lottery or gift enter-
prise. It was called the "Great Southern Distribution of Real
Estate and Personal Property," by Henry Dalton. The first
prize was an elegant modern built dwelling house on the
Plaza valued at $11,000. There were 84,000 shares in the lot-
tery, valued at $1 each, and 432 first class prizes to be drawn.
Among the prizes were 240 elegant lots in the Town of Benton.
Who among you pioneers can locate that lost and long since
forgotten metropolis of the Azusa— the City of Benton?
For some cause unknown to me the drawing never came
off. A distinguished pioneer sued Dalton for the value of one
share that he held. The case was carried from one court to
another and fought out before one legal tribunal after another
with a vigor and viciousness unwarranted by the trivial
amount involved. How it ended I cannot say. I never traced
it through the records to a finish.
Old ads are like tombstones. They recall to us the memory
of the "has beens;" they recall to our minds actors who have
acted their little part in the comedy or tragedy of life and
passed behind the scenes, never again to tread the boards.
And now, in the Wonder City of the West, it is like hearing
the tenuous voices of a dream to read these old advertisements
and to pass in memory's review the long departed merchants
of the Los Angeles that used to be.
CHAPTER XI
THE PORT 0' SHIPS
California has a coast line approximately 1,000 miles in
length, with only two natural harbors. It has bights innumer-
able and many coast indentations that are no more than road-
steads in which ships of small burden might anchor safely
from a storm if the storm were not over violent. But it has
only two natural harbors— San Francisco and San Diego.
Sometime in some far-away and forgotten age of the earth
a seismic disturbance doubtless caused a mile or so of the
coast line opposite the rocky farallones to sink into the sea,
the waters of which immediately poured into a vast area of
low valley lands and thus was formed the magnificent and
peerless harbor of San Francisco. It was so named by Fray
Junipero Serra in honor of the patron saint and founder of
his order, San Francis of Assisi.
And the mile or so of land that an earthquake sank into
the sea, thus forming an entrance to the harbor of Saint
Francis was fitly and beautifully named the "Golden Gate"
by Capt. John C. Fremont, the immortal "pathfinder," in one
of his official reports to the Government at Washington.
Just how the harbor of San Diego was formed by Nature,
we are not aware, having seen no account of it, but this would
be beside the board, anyway. It is enough to know that it is
there — the Bay of San Diego shining blue against the sea —
beautiful and lovely, a haven not alone for ships, but a great
port in which the armadas of the world could assemble with
ease.
We are not to be misled by the maps that were made and
sent to Spain by the ancient mariners who first sailed the
coast of California. If they were to be believed, California
fairly bristled with harbors. They even mapped California
out as a great island.
203
204 LOS ANGELES
The fact is that almost any hole in the coast would do for
a harbor for the little tubs of ships in which Juan Rodriguez
Cabrillo, the discoverer, and Sebastian Viscano and Sir Fran-
cis Drake sailed in the old times of the sea. The wonder 'is
that they sailed so far, and made conquest of the whole earth,
indeed, in these little ships, aboard of which the man of the
present day would not care to venture across the quiet and
placid waters of the channel between San Pedro and the Island
of Santa Catalina.
Wherefore, we are to observe that what might be con-
sidered a port a hundred years ago, or even fifty years ago,
would by no means constitute a port for the great ocean
burden-bearers of today.
Now, as all the world knows, the port of the City of Los
Angeles is the Bay of San Pedro. And it will doubtless prove
interesting to know with what favor or disfavor that indenta-
tion of the coast was regarded by the old-timers.
In his log book, referred to at more length in an early
chapter of this book, we find that one Rodriguez Cabrillo, the
discoverer of California and the first white man ever to lay
eyes on San Pedro as far as we know, refers to the harbor
as being "a Port enclosed and very good." But, as we have
previously remarked, while the Bay of San Pedro in the year
1542 might have been "a Port enclosed and very good" for
the little galleons of Cabrillo, we may as well be frank to
admit that it wouldn't be anything like that at all for the
present day liners and freighters that now find anchorage
there in ever increasing numbers. However, Los Angeles
cannot be so poor in gratitude as to fail to remember always
that so great a sailorman as Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who
was also the first sailorman to put into our harbor, was very
complimentary to it.
Still, it was always regarded as a harbor, more or less,
and when a ship was built at the Mission of San Gabriel a
century ago, it was launched at San Pedro as being the natural
and best adapted place from which to launch a ship.
It seems that Sebastian Viscano in the year 1602 also re-
garded San Pedro (the original name of which, by the way,
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 205
was San Miguel) with much favor. He also said it was a good
port.
All these ancient reports of San Pedro, however, became
little or not at all known to the commercial world, being buried
in the archives of Spain throughout the long years of nearly
two centuries when California was as much forgotten as
though the good Lord had never created it.
But in the year 1835 a Yankee sailor came to California
who made San Pedro and all the other harbors and ports of
California familiar to commerce. And the way he did it was
by writing about them in a book which was widely read and
which had created, indeed, a profound sensation. This hook
was called "Two Years Before the Mast," and was written
by Richard Henry Dana, a Harvard undergraduate, who, on
account of an affliction of his eyes which jeopardized his sight,
put out to sea from New England on a long voyage around
the Horn.
Dana said that San Pedro when he saw it first, eighty-five
years ago, was not a land-locked bay, but rather one with
little more than a crescent-shaped shore, really an open road-
stead protected mainly by the outfitting Palos Verdes Hills
and the Island of Santa Catalina lying lengthwise with the
coast and less than eighteen miles away. On the bluff at the
foot of the hills, and facing the sea, a wooden shed was the
only building Dana could see from the deck of his little vessel.
He wrote in his story of this voyage:
"I learned to my surprise that this desolate-looking place
furnished more hides than any port on the coast. It was the
only port for a distance of eighty miles, and about thirty miles
in the interior was a fine plain country filled with herds of
cattle, in the center of which was the Pueblo of Los Angeles
— the largest town in California — and several of the largest
Missions, to all of which Los Angeles was the seaport."
Cargo from vessels was at this time taken to the land in
small boats, while the merchandise— mostly hides — taken in
exchange was rolled down the bluff and taken from the shore
to the vessel in the same boats.
Twenty-four years later Dana again called at the port,
206 LOS ANGELES
and in the following words describes the changes that had
already taken place in it:
"I could scarce recognize the hill up which we rolled and
dragged and pushed our heavy loads. It was no longer the
landing place. One had been made at the head of the creek,
and boats discharged and took off cargoes from a mole or
wharf in a quiet place safe from Southeasters. A tug ran
to take off passengers from the steamer to the wharf — for
the trade of Los Angeles is sufficient to support such a vessel.
' ' I walked along the shore to the new landing place where
there were two or three storehouses and other buildings front-
ing a small depot ; and a stage coach, I found, went daily be-
tween this place and the pueblo."
This stage line was for nearly forty years the common
carrier between the pueblo and the harbor.
During this period many Americans settled in Los Angeles
and it rapidly became the trading place of prime importance
to the entire Southwest, and the harbor section grew to have
a population of about 3,000 persons.
The time came at last when all these comparatively small
traffickings became things of the past and Los Angeles had
grown to be a real city with an ever-expanding fertile agri-
cultural country back of it, with a transcontinental railroad
running into it, and its affairs constantly assuming huger
proportions.
Then the open roadstead at San Pedro and the one wooden
wharf that ran out from it wouldn't do at all, and Los Angeles
was stared in the face by the solemn fact that it had to have
a real harbor and not one that was merely a make-believe.
And so, as it had always done when it needed anything,
it went out and got it. If Nature had not made an honest-to-
goodness harbor at San Pedro, then Los Angeles itself would
make one there.
Thinking upon things like this, there are three outstand-
ing facts of Los Angeles concerning which Nature did not
provide for it and which it provided for itself. The first of
these things is the railroad — a transcontinental railroad
which was surveyed and was being constructed many miles
away across the desert, leaving Los Angeles stranded and not
208 LOS ANGELES
even within hailing- distance of it. But Los Angeles went out
to the desert and said to the railroad: "Hey, Railroad, you
are overlooking a big bet; you just turn yourself around a
little and run over here to Los Angeles." And the railroad
did it. In later times it had no river to supply it with water.
So it trekked 250 miles over hills and valleys and across
deserts, found a river flowing from the eternal snows of the
Sierras, bought it and paid for it and turned it into big pipes
with the result that the city will have water and plenty of it
as long as it lives. In the same way it had no harbor that
could be called a harbor. So it just naturally went to work
and dug out one.
When it came to the point that Los Angeles had to have a
real harbor, there was a big fight over it — a long and a bitter
fight. Men still not very old can remember it.
The fight was between the Southern Pacific Railroad and
the people. The Southern Pacific Railroad wanted the harbor
located at Santa Monica, which would not only be to the rail-
road's advantage, but would give that once aggressive and
pugnacious institution control over the commercial destinies
of Los Angeles for all time to come. The people wanted the
harbor at San Pedro, where it would be owned and controlled
by the people. And, after years of acrimonious struggle and
bickerings, the people won their point.
The story of the building of the Port of San Pedro, now
known officially as the Harbor of Los Angeles, is of intense
interest, and we are indebted to Mr. Christopher Gordon of
the harbor commission for a relation of the following im-
portant facts :
About 1870 the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad was
built to connect Los Angeles with Wilmington. This road
was later transferred to the Southern Pacific Company as an
inducement for it to build from San Francisco through Los
Angeles and on into Texas.
This railroad construction naturally gave a great impetus
to the business of the port, and about this time the United
States Government began to take a hand in improving it in
the interest of navigation and commerce.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 209
At this time less than two feet of water covered the en-
trance to the inner harbor at low tide.
In 1871 the Federal Government commenced jetty con-
struction at Dead Man's Island, with a view to having the
tides scour out a deeper channel to Wilmington. This plan
was successful, and with a little dredging and the expendi-
ture of about $400,000 such improvement in port conditions
was effected that about 1885 a new realization of the port's
significance was had and a movement was started to have the
Government build a breakwater to protect the outer harbor.
The Southern Pacific about this time extended its Wil-
mington branch on into San Pedro, and in 1891 the Los
Angeles Terminal Railway built a railroad on Rattlesnake
Island, thus opening up the east side of the harbor by rail
communication.
The Government then undertook to build the breakwater,
and this was completed about 1910 at a cost of $3,100,000 and
with a length of 11,050 feet.
Later, at its outermost end, a splendid lighthouse was built,
During these years much dredging was done by the Gov-
ernment, not only in the main channel and turning basin, but
also in the east and west basins, and later a considerable
amount of dredging was done by the city in the east basin and
in the Wilmington and the Mormon Island channels.
The harbor lines as fixed about this time have a length of
about twenty miles — a pier line frontage that can be increased
very considerably by the dredging of slips.
About this time the State of California transferred to the
City of Los Angeles all its tide land holdings in and about
the harbor, and these, after much litigation, became finally —
to the extent of nearly 2,000 acres — the holdings of the city.
Of these about 400 acres are in the outer harbor.
In 1906 Los Angeles extended its boundaries to the harbor
district towns.
In 1907 the first Board of Harbor Commissioners of the
City of Los Angeles was created by city ordinance. This
Board proceeded energetically with the steps necessary to
bring the harbor district within the corporate limits of the
210 LOS ANGELES
city, to the end that the financial strength of the big and
growing city might be employed in developing its harbor.
Early in 1909, by act of the State Legislature, the con-
solidation of the harbor municipalities with the city became
possible. As an inducement to consolidation the city agreed
to spend $10,000,000 in harbor development, and in August
of that year the entire harbor district became a part of the
city.
In 1910 the city voted $3,000,000 in harbor bonds to start
the work, and in 1912, after litigation by opposing interests,
this money became available.
In 1913 the city voted a bond issue of $2,500,000. These
issues with $4,500,000, voted in 1919, making up the $10,000,-
000 agreed upon.
The events of these few years really constituted the birth
of a great seaport, and in 1912 a newly organized board pro-
ceeded at once to prepare for the shipping that was expected
to come with the opening of the Panama Canal.
A reinforced concrete wharf 2,520 feet long was built on
the west side of Pier 1 and another 400 feet long at the head
of the west channel — both in the outer harbor. On the 2,520-
foot wharf was built a steel and concrete transit shed 1,800
feet long by 100 feet wide, with clear span, with concrete
fire walls 600 feet apart, steel smoke aprons and automatic
sprinkling system — one of the finest buildings of its kind in
the country.
Five railroad tracks and a 50-foot concrete roadway were
installed on the pier, and a magnificent reinforced concrete
warehouse, 152x480 feet in area and having six stories and a
basement, equipped with automatic sprinkler system, whip
hoists, elevators, outside stairways, cargo chutes, two rail-
road tracks inside the building and, in fact, all that goes to
make it the peer of its kind in the United States.
On Pier "A" about 3,000 feet of creosoted pile wharf
was constructed, and on it four steel on wood frame transit
sheds all 100 feet in width, single span, with automatic sprin-
klers, and of lengths varying from 500 to 1,000 feet each,"
with four railroad tracks serving them and a 50-foot concrete
roadway.
212 LOS ANGELES
At this enormous pier docked the American-Hawaiian
Steamship Company and the Independent Steamship Com-
pany, and later the Pacific Steamship Company, the Los An-
geles-Pacific Navigation Company, the Williams-Dimond Line
and the California Pacific Steamship Company.
At the head of Slip 5 was constructed a wharf 670 feet
long, and on it a transit shed 100x530 feet with railroad and
highway service, as on the other piers.
Ferry terminals were installed at various places in the
harbor. A vast amount of dredging was done in order to fur-
nish adequate depth for the ships that were expected.
A fish harbor was created on Terminal Island, on which
the fishing fleet could tie up to a 1,600-foot wharf that was
constructed in front of the area set aside for fish canneries.
A wholesale fish market was constructed on the west side
of the main channel, in which all of the wholesale dealers in
fresh fish could be accommodated on equal terms and in a
perfectly modern and sanitary building.
At First Street a wharf 330 feet long was constructed and
on it an umbrella shed and a two-story building to house the
pilots, the port warden, the wharfinger and offices for the
steamship company using the wharf.
On the main turning basin was built, for the Standard
Oil Company, a wharf 800 feet long, and across the way a
wharf for the Union Oil Company, while on the breakwater
a loading station site was provided for the General Petroleum
Company.
A municipal belt railway was decided upon, and to date
some fourteen miles of this railway have been built.
In addition to creating paved roadways serving all
wharves, additional approaches to the harbor were created.
In the midst of this construction activity the great war
was started, and as this took nearly all ships from the Pacific,
the benefits expected from the Panama Canal could not ma-
terialize. As the funds for harbor development were ex-
hausted about the same time, the work of harbor building,
in large part, ceased for about four years and until a new
bond issue by the City of Los Angeles of $4,500,000 was voted
and harbor work resumed.
214 LOS ANGELES
The Harbor Department operates on Santa Catalina
Island its own quarry, from which the rock needed for bulk-
heads, roads, etc., is taken.
It is now installing the latest mechanical appliances for
handling cargo with speed and cheapness.
It has plans of further harbor development pressingly
needed that will require, in addition to the present bond fund
of $4,500,000, another $10,000,000 at least to complete.
The war, which took away the shipping, created in the
harbor a large shipbuilding industry consisting of two ship-
yards with three ways each for wooden ships, and two ship-
yards with six ways each for steel ships. It was at least partly
the means of locating the largest United States submarine
base on the Pacific Coast in the harbor. It greatly increased
the fish canning industry, an industry which in and about the
port engages seven or eight hundred fishing boats.
The war helped to increase the fuel oil, gasoline and kero-
sene business in the port.
The war increased the demand for raw cotton, so that
California and Arizona went into cotton-growing with great
and surprising success, and Los Angeles Harbor became an
important cotton port, and port officials installed a high
density cotton compress.
A large refrigeration and ice-making plant is about to be
installed to meet the growing demands of the fishing industry.
A vegetable oil trading and refining plant is being installed
to take care of the vegetable oil business coming from the
Orient and the South Seas.
A stockyard is being created to take care of importation
of stock.
A supply of steam coal has been provided in the port for
bunkering coal-burning ships. The bunkering of ships with
crude oil is taken care of by three of the largest companies
in the country, one of which has an enormous oil refinery a
few miles from the port, and another is completing an enor-
mous oil refinery within the harbor district.
A 10,000-ton floating dry dock is nearing completion.
A new and very fine fire boat has lately been built and
brought into the service of the port.
216 LOS ANGELES
The United States Navy on the Pacific uses the port ex-
tensively, and the flagship of the admiral has Los Angeles
as its home port.
The Globe Milling Company maintains and operates a
grain elevator on the main channel.
Five of the largest lumber companies have extensive yards
and mills on the waterfront.
A 10,000-ton marine railway for ship repairs, etc., is
about to be installed on the west basin.
A channel to the Long Beach Harbor has been dredged,
making it possible to create thirty miles of still water dockage
in the inner harbor alone.
In 1920 the following steamship lines operated to and from
the port:
Pacific Motorship Company (Los Angeles Pacific Naviga-
tion Company, agents) — Paita, Eten, Callao, Mollendo, Arica,
Iquique and Valparaiso.
Los Angeles Pacific Navigation Company. Direct sail-
ings — Honolulu, Yokohama, Kobe, Shanghai, Hongkong,
Manila, Singapore, and return.
California & Mexico Steamship Company — Lower Cali-
fornia and Mexican ports.
Pacific Mail Steamship Company (M. F. McLaurin, Inc.) —
Balboa and way ports. All important Mexican and Central
American ports. Also sailings for Havana, Cuba, and Balti-
more, Maryland.
Gulf Mail Steamship Company (Los Angeles Pacific Navi-
gation Company)- — Guaymas, Topolobampo, La Paz, Mazat-
lan, San Bias, Manzanillo, Acapulco, Salina Cruz, Cham-
perico, San Jose de Guatemala, Acajutla, La Libertad, La
Union, Amapala, Corinto, San Juan, Puntarenas, South
American ports.
Rolph Mail Steamship Company (Rolph Mills & Co.) —
Mexican, Central American and South American ports as far
south as Valparaiso.
South American Pacific Line (Rolph Mills & Co.) — Mazat-
lan, Manzanillo, Acapulco, Salina Cruz, Champerico, San Jose
de Guatemala, Acajutla, La Libertad, La Union, Amapala.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 217
Corinto, Puntarenas, Buenaventura, Manta Guayaquil, Callao,
Mollendo, Arica, Antofagasta, Valparaiso.
Toyo Kisen Kaislia — Salina Cruz, Balboa, Callao, Arica,
Iquique, Valparaiso.
Harrison Direct Line of Steamers (Balfour, Guthrie &
Co.) — English ports.
Norway Pacific Line — Scandinavian ports.
Johnson Line (M. F. McLaurin, Inc.) — Scandinavian
ports. (Sailings contingent upon cargo offerings.)
Williams, Dimond & Co. — New York, European and Eng-
lish ports. (Sailings contingent upon cargo offerings.)
Pacific Steamship Company (Admiral Line) — San Diego,
San Francisco, Seattle, Tacoma, Victoria, B. C. ; Vancouver,
B. C. ; Everett, Puget Sound ports, Mexican and Central
American ports.
McCormick Steamship Company — San Diego, Redondo,
San Francisco, Eureka, Portland, Gray's Harbor, Puget
Sound ports.
Luckenbach Steamship Company — New York sailings.
North Atlantic and Western Steamship Company — Phila-
delphia and Boston sailings.
General Steamship Corporation — South American and
Australian ports.
Swayne & Hoyt, Inc. — West Coast and East Coast South
American ports.
Los Angeles is now known as the great seaport of the
Southwest. An enormous commerce on the seas is assured
it. The fledgling has become a young eagle with an eye on
half the world. It shares with San Francisco and Seattle the
trade of the Pacific — still in its infancy — but destined to grow
with marvelous rapidity.
It is a municipally-controlled and regulated port, and this
largely by reason of the fact that it is in large part a munici-
pally-owned and operated port.
The rail haul to it is shorter and is made under better
operating conditions from most parts of the United States
than to other Pacific ports.
Its water highway to the Orient, Australia, New Zealand,
218
LOS ANGELES
the Philippines and Hawaiian Islands is in the favorite Sun-
shine Belt.
It may be a source of surprise to know that the building of
this haven has not required an extraordinary expenditure of
money. Nature has already done so much to assist man in
his labor that the trouble of construction was rendered easy.
The breakwater cost $2,900,000, and the dredging of the inner
harbor up to the year 1910, $1,638,000. And think what has
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Steamship Unloading Wheat from Australia
been done with that comparatively small amount of money.
It has required five and ten times as much to accomplish the
same result in other harbors.
There will be comparatively small expense for yearly
dredging to keep the harbor deep enough, as is the case with
most large harbors of the world. This fact alone will mean
a large saving. A great deal of the money allowed by the
Government will be used in building proper fortifications.
The necessity and importance of fortification construction
cannot be exaggerated. If one but stops to think how unpro-
tected we are in this section of the country, one will see the
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 219
necessity of something being done to strengthen our position.
The Government has spent millions of dollars fortifying the
Atlantic coast, but on the Pacific coast only a very few of the
most important seaports are made safe from danger in case
of war. There is no reason why the most thriving part of
the Pacific coast should be so situated that an enemy can walk
right in its door without knocking. A few years from now
there will be greater necessity for this protection, because the
surrounding territory is being populated at such a surprising
rate. The safety of millions of people will be brought into
question, not to speak of the danger to shipping as well as
to the harbor itself.
And now to begin with the advantages accruing to the
Southwest through the harbor.
There has been a steady growth from year to year in the
shipping business of Southern California. Some years have
seen a remarkable increase, but it has to a great extent been
dependent on the facilities for commerce which were devel-
oped. Most of the products have been exported by rail, but
large quantities have also gone by water. Nevertheless, in
the past we have not had a deep enough harbor to furnish the
best accommodations for ships, and therefore could not re-
ceive goods from the largest ones. This, of course, hampered
our foreign trade. Some of the large harbors of the world
have appropriated large sums of money to deepen their gate-
ways. As for the gateway to Los Angeles harbor it will be
wide enough and deep enough for many years to come.
The trade of Los Angeles Harbor is nothing to be ashamed
of. Even without the great possibilities which the Panama
Canal will open up to us, we would unquestionably have a
great trade anyway. But when the salient feature of the
great circle route between the Panama Canal and the Orient,
being only seventy miles from the entrance of the inner
harbor, is taken into consideration, no one can imagine how
much the harbor will mean.
In 1910 the crop of oranges and lemons amounted to almost
41,000 carloads. The tremendous quantity of citrus fruit that
is shipped has to be forwarded by rail and at a very high
freight rate. By water this crop should reach New York in
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 221
from thirteen to twenty days, depending entirely on the speed
of the vessels plying' on the route. At present it takes twelve
days by rail, but what will the few days' difference amount
to when the difference in rates is taken into consideration?
It is expected that oranges and lemons will be shipped
to New York by water at the cost of one-third the rail
rate. The icing of a car of oranges or lemons from Los An-
geles to New York costs about $75. On shipboard the temper-
ature is always very even, much more so than on land, and if
there is any necessity for refrigeration it can easily be done by
the circulation of a refrigeration fluid by the engines. This
can be accomplished by the use of a very little power, and
consequently at a very low cost.
AVe should also ship to Europe at a considerably lower
cost by the all water route. It is expected that freight will
be sent to Liverpool and London by water at the cost of from
$7 to $9 a ton. The rail rate for citrus fruits is far in excess
of that.
As far as time is concerned, it takes three weeks for the
citrus products to reach Europe now, while by the Panama
Canal it should not take more than three or four weeks.
Thus it can be seen that the principal advantage of the
Panama Canal is the furnishing of a new and cheaper manner
of transportation to the eastern part of the United States.
The railroads will have to lower their freight rates to the
East, and therefore, traffic will be benefited in every direction.
Not only will we have a tremendous trade with the Atlantic
coast and Europe by water, but there are many things raised
in the Southwest which should build up a large commerce
with the Far East. Lemons have been sent to Japan by way
of San Francisco. Besides there should be a considerable de-
mand for dried as well as deciduous fruits in the Orient. But
one of the principal exports to the regions across the Pacific
is cotton. In Imperial Valley cotton is being raised very
successfully and it is said to be the finest in the world. The
producers have already had orders from Japanese spinning
mills and a number of experts from Japan have visited the
field and were well impressed. Besides this, we are in direct
communication with Texas, whose annual production of
222 LOS ANGELES
cotton amounts to some 3,000,000 bales. There will certainly
be a sufficient amount to supply the needs of the Orient.
Besides cotton, Japan imports principally iron manufac-
tures, sugar and wool. All of these are produced in this part
of the country. The imports of all the countries in the Far
East very much resemble these. They export some very
valuable products, some of which will be used in the South-
west. From China we will be able to procure pig iron at low
figures. From Japan some very fine hardwood has been
shipped, and the oak which has been received competes with
eastern oak. Other exports are silk, coal, tea, matting, ore,
bullion and camphor.
The commerce with Mexico has gone to San Francisco, but
in the future there will be no reason on earth for sending the
freight from Mexican points an extra 358 miles up the coast
to San Francisco, when the same can be landed at San Pedro.
In the new regions of the west coast of Mexico the people
require a large amount of machinery and tools to develop
their land, all of which Los Angeles can manufacture and send
down to them. Once we have put in our claim to this trade,
we will find that a large amount of produce, especially trop-
ical fruits, can be brought to this place at a much less cost
than at present. For all these tropical products we have had
to pay a very high land freight rate, because most of them
came through New Orleans to the coast.
From the west coast of Mexico we are able to secure these
goods at a much lower price because we have vessels plying
regularly between our harbor and their shipping places. There
are excellent pineapples, bananas, and beds of oysters five
feet thick to be found there. These oysters are as good as
any found on this coast, and better than some which come
from the Atlantic coast. In this region, which is situated in
about the central part of Mexico, there is a great demand for
dried fruits, and all kinds of groceries, principally condensed
milk and butter. Most of the condensed milk is brought from
Seattle, which, of course, means an extra trip of over 1,000
miles.
In this way Los Angeles has for years been losing trade
which now logically falls to its lot. There have been plenty
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 223
of supplies, but we were hampered in our shipping facilities.
The day is soon coming when Ave will be able to put in our
claim for our own trade.
There are great riches stored in all parts of Mexico, and
it will only require time and money to develop them. With
the proper facilities for transportation and the consequent
opportunity for bringing to light the wealth still concealed
from the eyes of man, the possibilities for a great trade be-
tween those regions and the United States are enormous.
Los Angeles Harbor will, on account of its proximity and the
excellent railroad transportation to the interior which it offers,
claim a great part in this commerce.
If such a wonderful commerce was given to Seattle by the
discovery of gold in Alaska, what will Mexico mean to Los
Angeles with its rich mineral deposits and also its agricul-
tural products? In Alaska severe winters have to be faced
by people unaccustomed to them, but in Mexico one will be
secure from cold weather and plenty of assistance can be had
at a very low rate from thoroughly acclimated natives.
The same may be said of South America, for in many re-
spects the products are similar. There are rich mineral de-
posits still undeveloped.
In this direction lies one of the great openings of Southern
California. From the wonderful lands south of us wealth is
staring us in the face. A chance like this has seldom been
given to any land.
Of course, Los Angeles will be the great center of attrac-
tion for tourists. The people who pass through on their way
to the Orient will stop for a few days in the magic wonderland
and visit the various attractive resorts and see the rich coun-
try surrounding Los Angeles. These tourists always bring
a large amount of money into the city and the railroads
derive a thriving business from this vast increase of sight-
seers.
Many people are making the trip to the Orient and around
the world at the present day. Very often they come to the
western coast of America and leave from there for the Far
East. Most of them make Los Angeles their final stopover,
224 LOS ANGELES
because they visit Puget Sound and then come down the coast
to Los Angeles by rail, through Portland, or they come via
San Francisco. They were once forced to retrace their steps
to take the steamship at San Francisco, but Los Angeles can
accommodate the trans-Pacific liners now, and so these people
take the vessels here.
In connection with this another fact bearing on the de-
velopment of the Southwest should be mentioned. It has
oftentimes been found difficult to secure labor, especially for
fruitpieking, and sometimes the labor secured has not always
been the most satisfactory. In the future good laboring men
will be able to come via Panama at a rate much cheaper than
the present one by water and rail. This, of course, will go
far toward increasing and unearthing the hidden resources of
the Southwest.
Manufacturing in Los Angeles lias been increasing steadily
every year, and is taking great leaps now that this is the
maritime city of the Southwest. Think of the ease with which
we can procure fuel. Here we can obtain millions of barrels
of oil, on which great sums are saved for every barrel burned.
Most of the manufactories and warehouses of the future
will be located in the vicinity of the harbor. There are ex-
cellent sites for these near San Pedro. Also back of Wil-
mington there is admirable flat land, on which vast numbers
of them can be erected. A special advantage in regard to
manufacturing will be the ideal climate, which will render
all labor easy. The men will not have to struggle through
heavy snowdrifts to reach their occupations, nor will they
swelter under a burning sun which strikes to death with the
force of its terrible rays.
Until we are finally prepared for receiving the vessels, we
will not be able to half appreciate the great advantages which
we will have. It will be a glorious awakening to behold the
rays of the rising sun calling the laborers to another day of
life-bringing toil. And as the great orb of day rises higher
in the sky, at each stage, he will turn the emerald seas to
sparkling crystal as the prows of a continuous stream of pass-
ing vessels wake to life the sleeping waters of the Bay of
San Pedro. All day long there will be a bustle about the
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
225
wharves and docks, the loading - and unloading of vessels, the
departure and arrival of the great argosies.
When the evening sun sinks to rest behind the grim out-
lines of Point Firmin, the giant guarding the harbor, he will
light the whole expanse with the golden rays of his setting.
And perhaps some ship with sails spread, waiting for the
first touch of the soft night breeze, will be kindled by the
Sliding Out op Los Angeles Harbor
glorious golden light shot through the sky by the king of
day, until those very decks and sails seem aflame.
Gradually the light dies down and the ship becomes a
gray specter on the grayer sea. But the Southwest, having
beheld that sight, will know that another day has passed,
another day that has been a day of labor, but labor fully re-
warded, a day bringing in great wonders, and a day carrying
away greater wonders. Above all, and through all, with the
throb of the great liners' engines, will be heard the voice of the
Southwest singing, always singing of the golden wonder-
land ; of the land of Cathay ; of the land of health, happiness
and prosperity.
CHAPTER XII
THE AQUEDUCT
In my book "California," published by the Grafton Pub-
lishing Corporation, I made the following statement :
"The story of the Owens River Aqueduct is the story of
a great city builded on a desert that one day awoke to the
very serious fact that it must stop growing or find more water
for its uses. The city did not desire to stop growing, but
there was no more water anywhere within sight that it could
obtain. It had utilized to the utmost limit every drop of
water in every stream to which it had a right. The city that
faced this grave problem was the City of Los Angeles."
And also, here again, in order to discuss the present and
to forecast the future, we find ourselves compelled to revert
to the past — that beautiful and mighty past when were laid
the cornerstones of the commonwealth, and when California 's
career among civilized communities was begun. Wherefore,
I ask the indulgence of my readers to quote again from my
book ' ' California ' ' :
"In considering the present and future greatness of Cal-
ifornia, the imagination constantly reverts to the first at-
tempts that were made at civilization and commercial prog-
ress. One who knows and loves the story of California can
never behold the great irrigation ditches which wake to liv-
ing bloom the vast stretches of opulent plain and valley with-
out seeing, as in a dream, the first uncertain waterway which
Junipero Serra projected in the Mission Valley of San Diego.
As one speeds now upon the shining highways that link towns
and cities together from end to end of the Golden State,
memory stirs in the loving heart, the dream of days when
the Mission hospices, with their flocks and herds on the hill-
sides, and the Indian neophytes chanting in the harvest fields,
awaited the welcome traveller on the King's Highway. And
226
Headwaters op Owens River, Source op Los Angeles Water Supply
228 LOS ANGELES
thus Junipero Serra stands forth the first and greatest char-
acter of which California yet can boast — her first missionary,
her first merchant, the first of her empire builders. ' '
It is difficult to believe that Southern California, before
the coming of white men, was really a desert. But that is
what it was. It is now a great garden and lush with bloom,
its agricultural and horticultural products running into many
millions of dollars in a commercial way annually. But when
the mission of San Gabriel was founded in 1771, and the pueblo
of Los Angeles founded ten years later, water was the least
plentiful thing to be found between the Tehachapi and San
Diego. The rivers and streams of the country were then, as
now, dry streaks of sand throughout the long hot summers.
When Los Angeles was founded in 1781 there was in sight
a quantity of water available for domestic and farming pur-
poses sufficient only to meet the needs of a small community.
And everything was all right in this respect for many and
many a year while Los Angeles remained a mere village,
sleepy and contented.
It was only when the "gringo" came and insisted on mak-
ing a city where it seemed that neither God nor man ever
intended a city should be. that the problem of water became
momentous.
It is true, however, that by one means and another, the
ingenuity of the engineers was able to cope with the situa-
tion. But the engineers were always at their wits' ends.
Every year more and more people came to make Los Angeles
a bigger town, but Nature did nothing to bring more water
to it.
We can realize what the situation came to be if we will go
back to the year 1905 when the population of Los Angeles was
in the neighborhood of 200,000 souls.
In the month of July of that year the city found itself
using every day 4,000,000 gallons of water more than was
flowing into its reservoirs. The water commission found
itself figuratively tossing on its bed and spending sleepless
nights. It sent out its engineers on a quest for more water,
as though by some magic or miracle the rocks might be
smitten and heretofore unknown springs might be discovered.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 229
And the engineers came back only to say that no possible
source of water supply that could by any stretch of the imag-
ination be considered adequate existed anywhere south of the
Tehachapi or west of the range of mountains whose backbone
lies back of San Bernardino.
It was of the future that these worried water commission-
ers and the engineers had to think. Los Angeles absolutely
declined to cease growing. The experts estimated that by
1925 Los Angeles would have reached a population of 400,000
people. And it would be a city then tragically short of water.
We can see now that as a matter of fact the estimate of the
experts was entirely too conservative. For, as we are writ-
ing this book in the year of our Lord 1920, the population of
Los Angeles is quite 600,000, and that in all likelihood it will
reach 750,000 in 1925, the time fixed by the experts for it to
reach 400,000.
It was in this critical year of 1905 that there came down
from the snows of the high Sierras in the character of a
Moses, an old-time lover and long-time resident of Los An-
geles who had abandoned his old home town to devote his
life to ranching far away to the north among tbe great moun-
tain peaks of Inyo County.
This man was Fred Eaton, sometime city engineer and
sometime mayor of Los Angeles.
The day that Fred Eaton came down from the mountains
of Inyo to lay before the officials of Los Angeles his plan for
a water supply is a day that should be set down in history.
And Fred Eaton himself must be set down in history. His
idea was to secure possession of the Owens River with its
inexhaustible supply of snow waters from the high Sierras
and divert its course through conduits over mountain and
desert, a distance of 250 miles, for the relief of the city that
was well beloved by him and that had heaped upon him its
favors and its highest honors.
"With the eye of the engineer, Fred Eaton saw that in for-
mer ages the Owens River had probably flowed along the
eastern base of the Sierra Nevada and had emptied itself into
the Mojave Sink. A rock uplift, maybe a million years ago,
had interrupted this flow and confined it to the unfathomed
230 LOS ANGELES
basin of Owens Lake, from which today there is no known
outlet.
In these statements concerning the Owens River Aqueduct,
I wish to say that I am quoting freely, and frequently ver-
batim, from authoritative published documents.
Fred Eaton was convinced from long and careful study
of the Owens River waters and the geological formations
hedging it in, that the obstacles standing in the way of mak-
ing the old river available as far south as the San Fernando
Range, near Los Angeles, could be easily overcome by means
of tunnels and siphons, and thus be delivered to the City of
Los Angeles. He was also convinced that the project, if
carried to a conclusion, would develop electrical power of
immense capacity.
Permeated to the very soul with this great dream, Fred
Eaton came on a fateful day to Los Angeles, and unfolded
his vision to the devoted officials in whose hands the destinies
of the city were then entrusted.
Eaton submitted his idea in the greatest secrecy. His con-
suming fear was that his great dream might become pub-
licly known with the result that private commercial interests
would seize upon it, and that the city — which meant all its
people — would lose forever the one supreme opportunity
which was its salvation.
Wherefore, with the utmost stealth, and as men going forth
on a profound secret mission, the discovery of which would
spell disaster, the city sent its engineers to examine into the
whole project. And when the engineers had reported the
project to be entirely feasible, the Board of Water Commis-
sioners secretly acquired all the necessary options on land
and water rights to safeguard the project from every con-
ceivable angle.
The engineers estimated that to build the aqueduct an ex-
penditure of $23,000,000 would be necessary. The tremendous
cost, almost unparalleled in the history of American munici-
palities, and the boldness of the project — bolder than British
dreams of Egypt — did not for a moment dismay the Los
Angeles city officials. The officials knew their people — a peo-
ple brave to do, and long used to big achievement. And they
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 231
laid the propect before the people with the utmost confidence
as to what the answer of the people would be.
I well remember that great morning in the month of July
when this thrilling dream of the Owens River for Los An-
geles was first made public in the columns of The Times,
where it was published exclusively. The announcement sent
a wild thrill through the whole population. And no wonder.
Here was deliverance and salvation. It was like that time
in Canaan when Joseph's brethren came back from Egypt
laden with corn to succor their famine-stricken homes.
I think it is safe to say that upon the first announcement
of this great news there were no discordant voices in the
acclamations of joy with which it was received. It is true
that later on the project was bitterly assailed from various
sources and by various selfish interests. Even to this day,
indeed, there are to be found those who will say that the
Owens River Aqueduct constituted an extravagant and useless
expenditure of the people's money. There are those who say
that a sufficient water supply could have been secured nearer
at hand and at one-tenth of the expense of the aqueduct. But
these carping criticisms are so childishly founded and are
voiced by those who are so comparatively outnumbered that
they may be dismissed with scant notice. The proof of these
statements lies in the fact that when the bond issue was sub-
mitted to the people for their approval on September 7, 1905,
it was carried by a vote of approximately 15 to 1.
The engineers who surveyed and designed the aqueduct
and later built and carried it to completion were William Mul-
holland, J. B. Lippincott and 0. K. Parker. In the actual con-
struction Mulholland and Lippincott were the active spirits,
with Mulholland as the real head.
In -passing, it would seem that more than this mere men-
tion of William Mulholland should be made in these pages.
In future generations it will be his name that will be most
remembered when the people of the future recount with well-
founded pride the achievements of the men who went before
them in the building of their great city. In those times, if
not now, some kind of lasting memorial in connection with
the Owens River Aqueduct will be erected in honor of Fred
232 LOS ANGELES
Eaton and William Mulholland — the dreamer and the doer,
the man who brought from the snows of the high Sierras the
great dream, and the other man who caused the dream to
come true.
It seems only natural that a city like Los Angeles should
produce such men as William Mulholland. The city, besides
being a most stupendous practical achievement, is also a ro-
mantic dream. And out of tbe romance of the town comes
the romance of this man Mulholland, who rose from his
humble station as the tender of its water ditches when it was
a sleepy pueblo to become its chief engineer and to stand in
the front rank of the world's greatest engineers when the city
had come to take its place among the great cities of the
world.
I have been told that when William Mulholland was a boy
in Ireland, where he was born, he had a longing for the sea.
And that he ran away from home, and that he was taken away
on a ship, and that he held to the sea till he served at last
before the mast and became a real sailorman; that then he
abandoned his sea-faring life and came ashore in America
and drifted westward with the restless tides that have ever
drifted westward in human history and that are westward
drifting still. Until one time, on a sunny morning when he
was still young, he found himself in the pueblo of Our Lady
the Queen of the Angels, where, happily, he decided to locate.
Mulholland secured a job as "zanjero," which was the old
Spanish title given to the man who attends to water ditches.
He lived by himself in a cabin beside one of the ditches which
were under his care. He followed around about the pueblo on
the trail of surveyors and the occasional engineers that the
community from time to time employed. At night, in his cabin,
he studied books — books on mathematics, surveyor's manuals
and works on engineering. His brain was alert and his desire
for knowledge of this special nature was insatiable. He
plodded patiently and with undaunted courage. And, step
by step, he rose in knowledge and ability and in the confi-
dence of the people. He became superintendent of the city's
water system. He became known far afield, and was fre-
PROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 233
quently called into consultation to help other engineers solve
big problems.
And the time came at length when his own city stood face
to face with as big a problem as any city had ever faced in
history — a problem requiring the expenditure of $23,000,000
of the people's money. And without the least hesitation, with-
out discussion whatever, the whole project was placed in
William Mulholland's hands and he was told to go ahead.
Of course Mr. Mulholland was supported by the best ad-
vice available. Three of the most prominent engineers in
the United States were at the beginning employed as a con-
sulting board to thoroughly canvass the project. They en-
dorsed Mr. Mulholland's report and pronounced his plans as
being thoroughly feasible. It was then proposed that a bond
issue of $23,000,000 be submitted to the voters, this amount
to cover construction. The people, at an election held June
12, 1907, gave their approval to this proposal by a vote of
10 to 1.
The Board of Public Works then took charge of work and,
in combination with the Water Board, worked out a plan and
the details of the great enterprise. The plan in brief was :
To take the water from the Owens River, 35 miles north of
Owens Lake, carry it through an open canal for 60 miles to
a large reservoir, the Haiwee, with a capacity of 20,000,000,000
gallons, then to carry it another 128 miles through combina-
tion of conduits, tunnels and siphons to a reservoir at Fair-
mont on the northern side of proposed tunnel through the
San Fernando Mountains, the tunnel to be 26,870 feet in
length and to be a pressure tunnel regulated by the reservoir
at Fairmont. From the southern portal of the tunnel the
water would drop from the rapidly descending San Fran-
cisquito Canyon, where big possibilities for power develop-
ment existed, and by natural channels, tunnels, siphons and
conduits, a distance of fifteen miles to the San Fernando res-
ervoir and the upper end of the San Fernando Valley, a total
distance of about 225 miles from the intake to the San Fer-
nando reservoir.
It was realized that the long tunnel under the San Fer-
nando Mountains would be the largest piece of work in con-
234 LOS ANGELES
neetion with the enterprise, and this work was at once started,
working from both ends.
The general water plan of the city is now laid down roughly
as follows: The water now developed and carried through
the aqueduct is sufficient to accommodate a population of
some 3,000,000 people. The city has laid down the policy
that no territory shall be given the use of its present surplus
supply which is not prepared to amalgamate with and be-
come a part of the city. Large areas now inside the incor-
porated limits of the city are still farming lands, and sur-
plus water is used on these for irrigation purposes at rates
which they can afford to pay. Eights have been obtained for
additional sources of supply, and plans are made for their
development for future use. Preliminary steps are even
now being taken to reservoir the Long Valley, an immense
area and catchment basin many miles north of the present in-
take of the aqueduct.
The whole enterprise constitutes a comprehensive plan
fully capable, when finally worked out, of taking care of
water needs of the city of any possible size in this locality.
During its development there has, of course, been much oppo-
sition, and many legal difficulties thrown in its way, but these
have been mostly overcome and it does not now seem possible
that anything can mar the full realization of the plan.
So much preliminary work had to be done that little other
permanent construction was under way before the end of
1908. The preliminary work referred to was gigantic in its
scope. A branch line from the Southern Pacific Bailroad had
to be built from Mojave up to the proposed line of the aque-
duct to connect with the Owens Eiver Valley. Hundreds of
miles of road, pipe line, power transmission line and tele-
graph and telephone lines had to be built. Fifty-seven camps
had to be established along the line, and all their facilities
and equipment provided and installed. Provision had to be
made for the vast quantities of cement needed for lining
conduits and tunnels, and for this purpose the city bought
thousands of acres of land in the Tehachapi Mountains cover-
ing the necessary deposits of limestone, clay, etc., and built a
cement mill with a capacity of 1,000 barrels a day. Large
areas of land had to be negotiated for and bought for the pro-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 235
tection of water rights and reservoir sites, and the land so
bought aggregated some 135,000 acres.
After general construction started in October, 1908, it was
found that in nearly all features of the work the rate of prog-
ress was greater and the cost less than the engineers' esti-
mates. Naturally, there were setbacks and delays such as are
inevitable in all large works, but notwithstanding these, water
was turned through the full length of the aqueduct and de-
livered at San Fernando on November 5, 1913, where its ad-
vent was hailed by a great outpouring of some 30,000 citizens
who congregated to welcome the flood which insured the life
of Los Angeles as a great city of the future. As it gushed
from the mouth of the outlet, the chief engineer, William Mul-
holland, was called upon for an appropriate address to the
assembled citizens. The address consisted of the remark,
"There it is, take it."
A fitting finish to a work well conceived and successfully
accomplished.
"When we speak of the aqueduct being completed and ac-
cepted by the city when its flow was delivered to a point at
the head of the San Fernando Valley, it must be explained
that this was considered a finishing of the aqueduct proper
and the further connection to the existing city distributing
system was apart from the building of the aqueduct, itself.
As a consequence of the bringing of water to the city from
Owens Eiver Valley, and of hardly less importance than the
water itself are the opportunities made available for elec-
trical power development. In the fall of the aqueduct at
various points on its southward course there is available for
such power a total gross fall of over 2,000 feet. The general
plans for the development of this power were recognized
throughout the construction of the aqueduct and provision
made to avoid duplication of work, and in September, 1909,
the Bureau of Aqueduct Power was created as a part of the
organization of the Department of Public Works. A con-
sulting board of three eminent engineers was appointed to
pass on the plans, to investigate all the power possibilities,
and to advise as to the best methods of maximum develop-
ment.
As a start for carrying out the power plans, a $3,500,000
Illustrating Los Angeles as a Western Metropolis
Miniature of a Giant Photograph Showing the Arrival of the Pacific
Fleet in Its Harbor
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 237
issue of power bonds was authorized at election in April,
1910. But this bond issue was not available until two years
later because of court proceeding's brought to test their
validity. Meantime it was realized that this first bond issue
would serve only to build the initial plant for the develop-
ment of a small proportion of the possible power, and if the
greatest benefit was to be obtained power developed by the
city must be distributed by the city. Consequently, in May,
1914, an additional power bond issue of $6,500,000 was voted
for the purpose of extending the development work and also
for building or procuring by negotiation a distributing sys-
tem in the city itself.
Los Angeles is already finding that her municipally owned,
almost inexhaustible and cheap water supply, together with
unlimited and cheap electric power, is to be the deciding fac-
tor in making of Los Angeles one of the large manufacturing
cities of the United States. Other contributing factors, of
course, being the climate, which makes almost continuous
work possible, and the harbor, which provides shipping facil-
ities to and from all parts of the world.
In the old days, Los Angeles, tied down by coal at $9 to
$11 a ton, could not compete as a manufacturing city with
districts having cheap fuel available. Then came the year
of California oil development which reduced the price of
fuel more than half, and manufacturing began to show its
head as a possibility. Now the city is entering on its third
year from the basis of manufactures, and power development
and distribution now make possible successful competition in
manufacturing with any city in the United States.
This, therefore, is practically the story of the Owens River
Aqueduct. But the mere relation of the facts leaves out much
that the imagination must supply. It was a bold stroke.
Courage of the very highest order was necessary even to
merely consider so gigantic an undertaking. It is not every
city of the size of Los Angeles in 1905 that would have had
the vision to go 250 miles afield over strange deserts and
under mountain peaks to corrall a river and lead it captive
to its gates.
But it is achievements of this nature that have made Los
Angeles what it is today and what it is to be tomorrow.
CHAPTER XIII
THE GLORY OF THE SCHOOLS
We are indebted to Laura Grover Smith for the following-
very illuminating and inspiring chronicle of the birth and
growth of public education in the City of Los Angeles :
The school in the early pueblo of Los Angeles was not re-
garded as an indispensable thing in a new community, as it
was in New England settlements. Outside of the missions,
learning was only fitfully pursued for many years. Now and
then an early Spanish or Mexican governor deplored the fact
that there were children of school age and that no teachers
could be found, but the matter appears to have gone no farther
than that for a long time.
The brief records of those early times, as far as "school-
ing" was concerned, are picturesque reminders of the easy-
going days on the great ranchos with more or less indolent
splendor, and later of the outer circle of the adventurers of
'49 who came this way. It was not until the tide of immigra-
tion brought eastern men and women from communities where
schools had been established, that education by way of schools
became important in the little pueblo of Our Lady of the
Angels.
Thirty-seven years from the time of the founding of the
pueblo, under a Spanish governor, Maxima Pina taught the
first school. It lasted a short two years and he received $140
a year.
There was a long vacation of several years, and the next
record found in the early archives of the city is an item al-
luding to the fact that the ayuntamiento had allowed the pur-
chase of a bench and table for the use of a school in the pueblo.
It does not elaborate the fact, but doubtless the bench and
table were for the school kept by Lucian Valdez from 1827-32.
238
240 LOS ANGELES
This was the longest school period under Mexican rule, and
was followed hy the inevitable long vacation.
The school affairs of the pueblo were entirely under the
ayuntamiento, which was all powerful, and its authority ex-
tended indefinitely from a geographical standpoint. To be-
long to this body was an unpaid honor. The only paid offi-
cials in the pueblo were the secretary of the ayuntamiento, the
sindic or tax collector, and the schoolmaster, when there was
one. The schoolmaster's salary was not to exceed $15 a
month, and the chief qualification and requirement was that
he should not expect, and certainly must not ask for an in-
crease of salary. In the latter event he was to be dismissed
as unfit for the office.
In addition to the long vacations, there were frequent short
ones when the teacher would be called before the ayunta-
miento to explain. It was apparently quite a satisfactory
excuse to say that the scholars had run away! Saints' days
were holidays, and each child's name saint's day was invaria-
bly celebrated, so schools, to say the least, were intermittently
conducted.
In 1844 Governor Micheltorena took the matter of educa-
tion in his own hands and secured from the state funds a
grant of $500 for any school to be established in the pueblo of
Los Angeles. Doubtless he was regarded as very radical, for
he went so far as to advocate education for girls. Up to this
time girls were not regarded as a part of any scheme of edu-
cation. What they learned at home in the way of embroidery
and sewing were considered quite enough education for
women.
A boys' school was soon under way with Ensign Don
Guadalupe Medina as teacher. He had already been detached
by leave of absence from his military duties. The school was
conducted on what was considered at the time most modern
methods. And certainly he had an ingenious plan in teach-
ing. By cleverly developing a class of older children under his
immediate supervision, these same children were able to teach
the younger ones and, in this way, all of his hundred or more
pupils had some benefit of direction.
Among the many good things told about this enthusiastic
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 241
young man, is the fact that he copied all the reports of the
first census ever taken in Los Angeles. This was in the year
1836.
Don Guadalupe Medina, to the regret of the community,
was recalled to military duty in 1844. His inventory signed
February 2, 1844, reads:
"Thirty spelling books, eleven second readers, fourteen
catechisms by Father Repaldi, one table without cover, writ-
ing desk, six benches and one blackboard. ' '
A side light on the recall of Medina to military duty, and
the consequent closing of the school, is the fact that the school-
house was needed by Pico and Castro for the soldiers, and
the bigger boys were expected to change their pens for
swords.
A five years' vacation followed.
Standing out in the intermittent teaching of these early
days is the school which was presided over by Don Ignacio
Coronel and his daughter, Soledad, in 1838-44. The children
met in his own house, which was in the neighborhood of the
Plaza. Don Ignacio was a man of ability, and the daughter
far in advance of her day. She introduced in a simple way
something of dramatic teaching and dancing in addition to
the usual accomplishments. This was surely a "neighbor-
hood school" and is a charming memory of the early days.
In the year 1847 there was no school whatever in the town.
The gold excitement two years later brought eastern young
men, who left in passing through, at least a sentiment about
schools. But the lure of the gold fields was strong and the
population constantly dwindled in numbers.
However, the feeling grew that schools were necessary, and
when in 1850 the ayuntamiento was merged into the city coun-
cil, sentiment in favor of education crystallized into action,
and under American rule on July 4, 1851, the first school
ordinance was signed.
The first teacher's contract under American rule was
signed by Abel Stearns, president of the City Council. It was
with Francisco Bustamente, who naively agreed: "to teach
the scholars to read and count, and in so far as he was capa-
ble, to teach them orthography and good morals." The
242 LOS ANGELES
school year was to last four months and his salary was $60
a month.
Another teacher of the early American days was Hugo
Overns, who condescendingly agreed to teach a school aided
by city funds, but the city should only send six boys !
The Rev. Henry Weeks and his wife conducted one of these
combination schools, city and private, for which they received
$150 a month.
During the early '50s the school authorities and schools
were much at sea. Such teachers as could be found taught
as they saw fit, for there was no uniform course of study.
They began the day when they were ready, and the school
year lasted as long as the funds, which was usually about
three months.
The schools, until 1852, when a tax of 10 cents per $100
valuation was made, were either private or partly supported
by the city. The subsidies were withdrawn about this time.
With the increasing immigration of eastern people over
the mountains and across the plains, and the occasional ar-
rival of a well-trained teacher, the demand grew for an organ-
ized system, similar to that in existence in eastern communi-
ties, and in 1853, John T. Jones submitted an ordinance "for
tbe establishment and government of city schools." A com-
mittee was appointed consisting of J. Lancaster Brent, Louis
Granger and Stephen C. Foster, with Mr. Brent, ex officio
school superintendent.
To Stephen C. Foster, elected mayor of Los Angeles in
1854, is due the final and definite move to establish free edu-
cation in this city. He himself was a man of education, was
graduated from Yale College. In his appeal to the public at
that time he says that "there is a school fund of $3,000 on
hand ; there are 500 children of school age, and there is no
school house for them."
Three school trustees were immediately appointed : Man-
uel Requena, Francis Melius and W. T. B. Sanford. The
mayor himself, Stephen C. Foster, was wisely chosen for the
newly created office of superintendent of schools.
The year 1855 marked further progress in the erection of
the first public school building in the City of Los Angeles,
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 243
which stood at the corner of Second and Spring streets. It
cost $6,000.
From this time on the school records become more and
more interesting, for, connected with the development of the
schools in administration and teaching are many names which
are as honored now as they were then. The builders of our
school system builded well, and their children and grand-
children are reaping the benefits today.
Mr. Newmark, in his interesting history of Los Angeles,
tells of the faculty of that little school on Spring Street. In
charge of the boys ' department was William A. Wallace, who
had come out to study the flora of this coast. Miss Louisa
Hayes, who was the first woman teacher here, directed the
girls' department. Among the pupils, Mr. Newmark adds,
"were Sarah Newmark, her sister Mary Wheeler who married
William Pridham, and Lucinda Macy, afterwards Mrs. Foy,
who recalls participating in the first school examination. ' '
The population during the period of the Civil war num-
bered many southern sympathizers, and sectional feeling was
bitter at times. This affected the schools in many ways. The
oath of allegiance was required at that time from the teach-
ers of the state, and has been since then obligatory, before
the issue of certificates. Many were called to the colors at
the time, and the school attendance for that reason, and for
economic reasons as well, dwindled to 350.
At the close of the war prosperity began, and Los An-
geles grew rapidly, and the schools multiplied.
In 1868 the cause of education was quickened by the arrival
of experienced instructors, several of whom became influen-
tial in laying the foundation of our present school system.
Among them were T. H. Rose, Wm. M. McFadden, Anna Mc-
Arthur, J. M. Guinn, Prof. Wm. Lawlor and P. C. Tonner.
The first teachers ' institute ever held in the County of Los
Angeles was called in the year 1870. The school building on
Bath Street was chosen for the meetings, as it was more
central than the one on Second and Spring streets. William
McFadden, who was at that time the first county superin-
tendent of schools, was the president of the first institute.
J. M. Guinn and W. H. Rose were vice presidents, and P. C.
244
LOS ANGELES
Tonne r was the secretary. There were thirty-five teachers
present, eight of whom taught in Los Angeles.
It was an interesting and enthusiastic meeting. It is pleas-
ant to think of the members of this earnest little group hope-
fully looking to the future. They doubtless knew that their
world was changing and the foundations they placed were
for others who would come over the plains in the tide of
immigration to build on the foundations thus reared. Their
dreams, however, could not have pictured all that has come
Old High School Site op the Present Court House
to pass. Many of the little group lived to know that their
achievement, in the day of small things, formed the corner
stone of our present fine educational system.
In 1872, where now stands the courthouse, a school build-
ing was erected which for some years was used by the first
high school. This was built under the benefit of the first
school bond issue, which was for $20,000. This building was
afterwards moved and is now the California Street School.
In 1873, for the first time in the history of the city schools,
a professional teacher was appointed to the office of super-
intendent of schools, Dr. W. T. Lucky, ex-president of the
State Normal School. It was a most fortunate choice, and
under his supervision the school system expanded rapidly
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 245
into a fine and orderly arrangement of graded school follow-
ing - established systems in existence in other cities.
In the previous twenty years of the school system, super-
intendents were never by chance teachers. Among them were
men distinguished in other walks of life, lawyers, doctors,
clergymen and merchants.
In 1875 the first graduating class from a high school in the
city made its bow to the world in the old "Los Angeles High."
The following named composed the graduating class : Henry
O 'Melveny, Henry Leek, Yda Addis, Addie Gates, Jessie Piel
and Lillian Millikeu.
From 1853 to 1866 the common council appointed the mem-
bers of the board of education and the superintendent of
schools. From 1866 to 1870 both the board and superintendent
were elected by popular vote. In 1870 it was discovered that
there was no provision under the existing law for electing a
superintendent, so the office was abolished for a period of
two years. Then, in 1872, by a special act of the Legislature,
it was made legal to elect a board of education consisting of
five members with power to appoint a superintendent.
It was the custom from that time until 1881 to elect the
principal of the high school to the office of superintendent of
schools.
In 1903 the city charter was changed to provide for a
non-partisan board of education consisting of seven mem-
bers to be elected at large from the city. The first board
members to be elected were John D. Bicknell, Joseph Scott,
S. M. Guinn, Jonathan S. Slauson, Charles C. Davis, Emmett
H. Wilson and W. J. Washburn.
The first annual school report was published in 1881, under
the superintendency of J. M. Guinn. Each year since then the
record has been an eventful one. Every superintendent has
matched with the progress of the schools in other states, and
each one has left to the school system a wealth of organized
ideas and fine ideals which have been followed. They have
kept constantly in line with every advancement in ethics and
science.
In 1884 the course of study in the high school, the only one
at that time, was so graded that a graduate from the school
246 LOS ANGELES
could enter with full credits any department of the state
university.
Until 1895 the only special branch taught was drawing.
Many things are taught now from the kindergartens to the
high schools, of which the philosophers of that day did, not
dream. Step by step they have been added as the progress
of the world has made its demands.
The kindergarten was regularly established as part of the
school system in 1889. Madame Severance, whose memory
is still so highly venerated in the community, was instru-
mental in bringing the first kindergartener to the city in 1871,
a Miss Marwedel. She came at the request of Madame Sev-
erance, and in her practice school was assisted by Miss Kate
Smith, who afterwards became Mrs. Kate Douglas Wiggin,
since a popular American author whose books are now on the
shelves of all the school libraries.
Music was added to the list of recognized school assets in
1885. Today in every school of the city it has become an
important branch of education. One has but to hear the or-
chestras, the glee clubs and the chorus of any school to know
the value of the department.
In many cases, probably in most cases, this musical train-
ing is all that the children of many families are ever able to
afford. This study is of economic value in affording joy in
school work, recreation at all times, and often employment as
the children grow older. The ever willing orchestra is pres-
ent at every school function and aids much in the good fellow-
ship. The study includes collaterally a knowledge of music,
a familiarity with the great composers and much else of cul-
tural value.
Night schools were established in 1887. The first idea
in their establishment was, to some extent, philanthropic.
It has expanded far beyond this, and today the plan as car-
ried out has become a civic necessity.
From a philanthropic standpoint, the plan was to afford
a chance of continuing school to those who had been obliged
to interrupt their education or had neglected earlier oppor-
tunities. It was soon found there were also many in the com-
munity who wished to add to their working efficiency a knowl-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 247
edge which was along more scientific lines. Many who are
at work at various trades have availed themselves of the
privileges and opportunities of the night schools, and have
appreciated the chance as perhaps only those can who realize
what it means.
Among the many schools of this kind now in Los Angeles
is one of special interest. It is called the Maple Avenue Eve-
ning High School and is conducted in the Labor Temple. The
course of study is a typical one and embraces art, American-
ization, music, electricity, mechanical drawing, plumbing,
sheet metal work, power machine operation, Spanish, vulcan-
izing and welding. Those who avail themselves of this school
are for the most part adults and fully alive to the democracy
of the school and very much in earnest in the pursuit of their
studies.
All the evening high schools are largely vocational
schools, although not receiving state aid, as the day schools
under the Smith-Hughes Act. Los Angeles in the field of these
schools is unique in the localizing of vocational education.
For example, the practical study of the oil industry as a vo-
cational possibility, and the study of sugar chemistry, the
production, and economic side of the raising of sugar beets
and the commercial possibilities of the same.
The night school at Polytechnic High School is a beehive
of varied industries. An infinite variety of subjects is taught
to the classes, the members of which are either acquiring a
vocation technically and academically or availing themselves
of the opportunity to strengthen the weak places in their
trades and vocations.
This is true, similarly, in the other evening schools which
are adapting the course of study to the needs of the com-
munity.
The elementary evening schools are also most interesting.
These schools are really community centers where a chance is
given to adults to acquire an elementary education. The
course of study in these schools is necessarily simple and
elastic, adapted to the foreigner who does not speak English
nor understand the laws of his adopted country. The teach-
248 LOS ANGELES
ing is a friendly step-by-step teaching of simple things and is,
of course, the beginning of Americanization.
In addition to the classes held in the schools, many of
them are in labor camps, laundries, factories and in large
boarding houses of men.
Another feature of the Los Angeles schools is the welP
developed and scientific treatment of the various types of the
backward child. Each child under this system who fails to
fit in with the school's scheme of work is taken out of the
regular grade and put in a special grade in a room some-
times called an "opportunity" room, for here the backward
child, the timid child or the child who is developed along one
line and not another, may be brought into normality. These
children vary in degree from a slight subnormality to the so-
called "defective." Each one has a chance, and by careful
study and treatment the children frequently advance to their
grades in the schools and become useful, normal members of
the human family.
The first class in this department was started in Septem-
ber, 1900, and was called an "ungraded" class. There are
now about 150 of these ungraded classes. There are also
about ten classes of what come under the head of "defective"
children. These are taught according to individual capacity
and developed as far as possible. In this line of the care of
children modern scientific tests are applied and the exact
grade of mentality is ascertained. The teaching follows the
grading of normality and subnormality in the most careful
and considerate manner.
There is also the truant child, who is often a lover of ad-
venture and a rebel against conventions. The restraint of
schools, with the necessaiy rules, irritates him into a state of
absolute resistance to all law. If this quality can be cor-
rected before it becomes chronic and develops into lawless-
ness, a fine member of human society may be saved.
There are others who need special moral teaching and for
whom particular classes are arranged. These children are
by no means bad children, but they go through a time when the
slant is not quite right, and when proper advice and sympa-
thetic treatment and new outlook are necessary. Over 90 per
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 249
cent of these children make good and are able to go on with
school work, associating with other children and obeying the
law which they have learned to respect.
In 1905 a class was started for deaf children. There are
about seventy children in the city at this date needing this
special education. There are a number of classes for them,
where they are taught the oral system along the most up-to-
date lines. It is gratifying to know that these children keep
up with their grades and often reach the high schools, pur-
suing the course of study as effectively as the normal child.
There are also classes for the blind where the children are
taught by the latest methods and develop as rapidly as their
handicap permits. All the teachers of these handicapped
classes must, and do supplement their ability as teachers with
rare sympathy and understanding.
In September, 1899, what is called "domestic science,"
which includes cooking and sewing, was inti'oduced into the
schools. This has grown into one of the important branches
of modern educational work in all the schools of the country.
The plan is carried out from the lower schools to the higher,
where in its scientific development it emerges into commer-
cial application when desired, and at all times into the sci-
entific management of the home. Every department of house-
keeping is scientifically taught. The larger housekeeping, the
economic questions in buying for the home, and outdoor work
connected with the household, come under this study. Beau-
tifying the home and interior decoration also belong in this
department. The study of textiles, the prices and the prin-
ciples underlying the clothing of the family, is incorporated
also.
In 1907 the health and development department of the
public schools was fully organized. As the name suggests,
this department is concerned in the physical welfare of the
children. A competent staff of physicians and nurses is
maintained, whose duty it is to observe and care for defects
of eyesight, hearing, breathing, posture and anything else
that may not be normal.
Formerly a near-sighted child would fall behind for many
school terms, because he had never been able to see properly.
250 LOS ANGELES
Adenoids and faulty posture prevented right breathing and
there was a consequent loss of force. This department is one
largely of reclamation. There are many children whose de-
fects might never be discovered but for the watchfulness on
the part of the doctors and nurses of this department, and the
majority of cases are easily remedied. The children are thus
given an opportunity to be normal and to pursue their studies
under average conditions instead of below average.
Morally this medical and nursing staff is of great aid to
the schools, for it is a vital necessity at times to interpret
problems along scientific, pathological and medical lines.
During the influenza epidemics of the years 1918-19, the
medical department of the public schools rendered great as-
sistance to the city health officers.
Possibly growing out of this department, and certainly
working with it, is the physical training department of the
public schools, which was established in 1909. This extends
from the grades to the high schools in an ascending scale of
application from simple gymnastics to the more elaborate
work of the upper schools. Physical training directors with
the older boys and girls are able to do much in the way of
forming healthy minds as well as healthy bodies. Their work
has decided ethical value in the making of a healthy citizen-
ship.
In 1910 the manual training which had been introduced
in the schools in 1896 was extended to include elementary
schools. It now embraces all the grades from the very young
children to those in the high school. An infinite variety of
hand work is taught from very simple things to articles which
might have a trade value. The wide range from cooking to
carpentry includes all ages, and both boys and girls.
Manual training has definitely proven that a human being
is never fully rounded out until he can co-ordinate both the
brain and hands. To do hand work or brain work only is to
do neither completely. There is a definite relation between
hand and head which modern systems of education recognize.
The several neighborhood schools in our city are exactly
what their name implies. Each school is a social center, a
community house, and a place from which the American idea
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 251
must radiate. The activities of each center might be called a
"continuous performance" — all day and every day and dur-
ing the vacations with the work of the supervised playgrounds.
These schools belong to all the people, including the fam-
ily from the baby to the father and mother. Fathers come in
the evening to learn the elements of reading, writing and
arithmetic, mothers come in the daytime with their babies, if
they wish, and learn to speak English, as well as how to take
care of the baby, and how to make American clothes for the
children and take care of the little homes.
Day nurseries are maintained where the mothers may
leave the children, and where the "little mother" — the little
girl who has to take care of brother or sister — may be relieved
of care while she is at school. The studies are adapted to
community needs, and the school becomes a kindly socializ-
ing agent.
In each school is a chart showing the housing conditions
of the neighborhood, in all the details. These are guides in
many ways and explain the conditions under which the school
may often solve its problems. Cafeterias in these schools, in
addition to the scientific feeding of the children, provide food
at under minimum cost. There are open air rooms for the
benefit of tubercular and other delicate children, where they
are fed three or four times each day. A careful record of
the weight of a child is kept, and often by the feeding and
care, it is restored to strength. There are, too, the ungraded
rooms in which the individual development of the child is care-
fully considered.
These schools afford much in the way of community recrea-
tion in the parties, festivals, their own "movies" and the
playgrounds.
Home teaching comes under the head of these neighbor-
hood schools. The teacher is really a sympathetic visitor who
goes to the home, enters into the problems of the father,
mother and children, assisting them often in the complexities
of life in a new and strange city. To bring all the family to
the school is her main object. It is so often the case that a
bright child who easily acquires a language and a knowledge of
the country before the parents (especially the hard-working
252 LOS ANGELES
mother), lias a sophisticated contempt for them. One of the
great pleasures of the work is to realize the joy it gives a
mother to stand well in the sight of her quickwitted children.
These schools are cosmopolitan to the last degree, and are
the great ''melting pots" of our Los Angeles.
In speaking of these special departments one does not for-
get that they are the modern improvements on the old aca-
demic system. The academic side of the schools has been
correspondingly developed and always emphasized. Founda-
tion principles are the things that come first, and education
and training of the mind is always the first consideration, aa
the courses of study so carefully arranged for each school
amply testify. All other things follow.
To the elementary schools have come many improvements
working out the theory of modern education. There is a
growing conviction that the time to begin the work of making
a good citizen is the first day the child goes to school. This
day is a prophecy and promise of an all-around education
which our democracy offers. The elementary teacher, there-
fore, and the elementary school are becoming more important
each year.
Los Angeles is one of the first cities to have intermediate
schools. To these schools, children of the seventh, eighth and
ninth grades go. The plan was an educational experiment
which has worked successfully. The concensus of opinion
among educators is that it has broadened the school and
increased the activity. Fewer children, as a result, have
dropped out of school at the end of the eighth grade. It is
obviously much better that a child at the age which is average
in the eighth grade should remain for another year with
younger children. This bridges over the wide disparity be-
tween the grade child and the high school student.
Children of the usual ninth grade age require careful con-
sideration which is somewhat easier when they are with
younger children rather than older. From the standpoint of
the adolescent child the school as adopted in Los Angeles
embracing the three grades has been a marked success.
There is no city in the United States where so large a per-
centage of young people go to the high schools and finish the
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 253
course as in Los Angeles. This has always been true here,
but since the war there has been a marked increase in enroll-
ment, due not only to the revelation of tbe draft showing the
illiteracy prevailing in the country, but to the conviction now
universally recognized, tbat the man or woman with an edu-
cation is much more efficient.
Los Angeles may well be proud of the beautiful high school
buildings and the work accomplished in the wide range of
subjects in the various courses of study. The courses vary
in the different schools, owing somewhat to their localities.
For instance, the course in shipbuilding is included in the
San Pedro High School, at Gardena agriculture is specialized
in, at the Polytechnic there is a wide range of technical sub-
jects, while Los Angeles High and Hollywood pay special at-
tention to academic work.
Even before the development of the vocational work which
now exists in our public schools under the Smith-Hughes Act,
the courses of study in the high schools had been worked out,
which in a measure tended to lead up to the business of life
both technically and academically.
Over the gateway of Lincoln High School is the most sig-
nificant word in education, ' ' Opportunity ! " It is a word to
thrill us who live in the United States where so much is offered
free and where the most democratic thing that exists is the
public school.
Citizenship is the all-embracing subject from the kinder-
garten to the highest grade. It is taught to the little ones,
beginning with the story of the flag and the oath of allegiance
and follows through all the grades. Civics and statesmanship
are studied in the upper grades, holding the ideal always of
the duties and privileges of the American citizen. This study
is the open door through which a foreigner must enter, and
our schools are carrying the burden of Americanization of
the country.
Los Angeles was the first city where the school training
given along the line of Americanization was recognized by the
Federal Government, and a certificate testifying to a certain
course given in the schools entitles the foreigner receiving it
to naturalization papers.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 255
It is ancient history to speak of the mothers ' clubs, which
were first organized in 1898-9. From this beginning has come
the Parent-Teachers organization, which has become a part
of the school system. In recognizing this organization as a
definite part of school work, Los Angeles is unlike most cities.
This association in every way stands back of school work.
The members take care of the poorer children in the way of
clothing, and the clinics maintained by them have been of
great value. They are generous in their gifts whenever
needed, and have carried on many helpful things, especially
in the neighborhood schools. The work they do is of great
understanding, for only mothers can know the problems of
other mothers. The various schools needing assistance on
what might be called "motherly" lines, have only to appeal
to the Parent-Teachers.
"What the Los Angeles schools accomplished during the 1
"World war is a matter of school history and should be a
matter of pride to the citizens. It demonstrated effectively
the immense power of organization and system. The quick-
ness with which it could be mobilized and the records of the
war years show the enormous part the schools played in win-
ning the war, both by way of the application of subjects taught
to the needs of the hour and the larger opportunity the schools
afforded for reaching the homes in lessons of patriotism,
thrift and conservation.
It was a gratifying revelation to know what the schools
are accomplishing all the time and an inspiration to observe
how quickly the scliool power could be utilized and diverted
in practical answer to the country's call.
In 1917, as soon as this country entered the war which was
devastating the world, Dr. Albert Shiels, then superintendent
of schools, appointed a general committee under which all
other committees worked for the period of the war. He asked
at once that the course of study, so far as possible, be diverted
to patriotic lines. English classes were to develop the work
along patriotic lines in the oral and written work. The
manual training departments were charted, revealing young
men and women who were fitted to assist in actual work. All
the schools became 100 per cent workers and members of the
256 LOS ANGELES
Red Cross organization. The library became a center of
education. Books on the various countries at war were dis-
played, bulletins issued by the various departments were kept
on file. All patriotic literature in the way of various pam-
phlets on thrift and conservation were carefully collected and
arranged.
A survey was made of the high schools at the end of June,
1917, and it was found that in the shops there were many
hundred boys who had been trained for forge, foundry and
pattern making. There were boys who were skilled in wood-
work and boys who could be used in field work and surveying.
There were many who were skilled in printing and who could
prepare mechanical drawing for army equipment and appa-
ratus. There were hundreds of girls and boys who were ready
as competent stenographers, typists, telephone operators,
stock and routing clerks.
In the sciences several hundred were ready for wireless
telegraph operators, others trained along electrical lines, in-
stallation of ground telephones, and still others who would be
useful in higher chemistry departments. This survey was of
use to the Government, outlining the possibilities of the young
men and women of the nation, and on whom it might rely
for technical work.
Agricultural departments in the schools immediately be-
came of the most vital importance, not only teaching conserva-
tion and thrift but promising actual supplies. Thousands of
pupils in all the schools were engaged in school gardening. In
the rural districts great things were accomplished. The boys
in one school, for example, began their school at seven in the
morning in order that they might be ready to go to the ranches
at 11 o'clock, where their labor was needed. Everywhere boys
and girls worked for their country in the schools and after
the school hours, according to the school plan.
The domestic science departments immediately turned
their work into war work. All cooking was thrift cooking
following the national plan. Sewing likewise followed the
war outline. In the latter department the girls contributed
their work in sewing to the making of children's dresses and
other things needed at the Red Cross shop.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 257
Lessons in first aid nursing were given to the older girls,
and all the girls sewed on the usual Red Cross necessities and
knitted the much-needed woolen articles.
In connection with the Red Cross shop, a notable achieve-
ment was the work by the boys in the manual training depart-
ment in the making of toys for the Christmas trade and to
be kept in stock.
Lessons as taught in the schools on thrift and conservation
along intelligent and specialized lines, went directly to the
homes, and the mothers were as earnest as the children in
applying the principles learned to the daily life.
Salvage work in the schools earned much money. In this
department as well as all other departments, the art teachers
and pupils assisted with war posters. In the Liberty Loan
drives and conservation the posters were most effectively
used.
Each issue of the Liberty Loans and Thrift Stamps were
sold in enormous numbers through the schools. The grand
total of the second Liberty Loan bought by the teachers, the
children and their friends, amounted to $1,178,150.
At the time of the war the military department of the
public schools became more prominent. It has always been
known that this department did much for the physical devel-
opment of the boys, increased a certain manly outlook on life,
made the boys more amenable to school law, giving them a
rigid sense of obedience to a higher authority. Personal loy-
alty to the school was increased in the fine esprit du corps.
Since the war, military training has been put on a different
basis with definite Federal encouragement and aid. The
United States Government has taken over this department
as far as furnishing instructors, equipment in the way of
guns, uniform and all other expenses. The departments are
still under school supervision.
There are about 3,000 boys enrolled in the Junior "R. O.
T. C." in the Los Angeles public schools.
The military training is in charge of seven United States
officers under the command of Col. M. M. Falls, who is the
head of the Western Division of the Reserve Officers' Train-
ing Corps, which includes high schools and colleges. A sum-
258 LOS ANGELES
mer camp is held each year. This year, 1920, 150 Los Angeles
boys are in military camps.
This aggregation of trained boys in the country is con-
sidered of great importance by the Government, revealing a
potential and trained strength in case of need, and which is
not an "unknown quantity" but a classified asset in the citi-
zenship of tomorrow.
This organization knows no national or racial discrimina-
tion, and the boys who salute our flag and accept our com-
mands are from the peoples of every nation within our hos-
pitable boundaries.
One of the developments of the modem well equipped
school is a library. Los Angeles is among the few cities which
are in advance in this particular. The librarians who are
trained especially for the work must have a college degree, in
addition to library training in an accredited school.
Each high and intermediate school in the city has a library
with a librarian in charge. The room is usually the most
beautiful room in the school, well lighted and furnished as
all modern libraries are. The school work naturally centers
here, for all departments use it constantly in their reference
work. Modern education no longer consists of isolated facts ;
each fact has some relation to another. Each age has had a
past and will have a future, therefore all history is a series
of facts which have some bearing on each other. Therefore,
there is constant need of collateral reading which the library
supplies and which the librarian is able to arrange in a way
so that it may be intelligently and quickly used.
As the library is primarily a place for immediate refer-
ence, there are many standard books of reference on the
shelves. Each department is represented by special books.
English departments, for example, require biographies of
authors, collections of essays, poetry and many other books.
History shelves are rich in biography, modern geography of
this swiftly changing world and the comparative history of
other nations in all ages, and of American history in every
phase, with the last word in books concerning science, dis-
covery and invention in modern study. Sociology, citizenship
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 259
and Americanization all require books to enlarge and enrich
text books.
In addition to the libraries of the high and intermediate
schools, a city school library is maintained. It is a central
library of many thousand volumes which are used by the
teachers and the children of the elementary schools. The
librarians are in constant touch with the teachers, and work
with them in their book lists, following and amplifying the
course of study with collateral material. In addition also to
the books which are analyzed carefully according to the needs,
collections of pictures are made and arranged in subjects as
are the maps, records for phonographs and other educational
aids. Everything is carefully classified, and when the schools
are studying any particular country in their geography
classes, they may have the benefit of a wealth of material to
illustrate the teaching.
In 1853 Congress granted to the State of California the
sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections of public lands for school
purposes. This included over 1,000,000 acres, 46,000 of which
were reserved for a state university and 6,400 acres for public
buildings.
Besides the alarming number of illiterates revealed in the
draft, it was found that the youth of our country was not so
efficient as in other countries. This inefficiency became a
Federal problem and the Smith-Hughes Act was passed,
whereby Federal aid was given each state, to be matched
dollar for dollar with state funds to carry out applied voca-
tional training in our public schools. Investigation proved
that the people who were working at trade occupations were
frequently technically trained but could never reach a high
efficiency so long as the limitation of limited education exists.
There was the group also of young people academically
trained in high schools and colleges without a trade or profes-
sion in sight, who were obliged to add other years of educa-
tion in order to enter the work of life. It therefore became
evident that education should be somewhat in duplicate and
should be planned with the objective of the life work.
It was decided also from the testimony of the workmen
and the employer that a skilled worker in any trade must sup-
260 LOS ANGELES
plement the training with a knowledge of the larger things
that concern his work in an understanding of business and
commercial conditions.
Generally speaking there are three classes of students who
come under this vocational department: (a) Undergraduates
who give their entire time to instruction; (b) those giving
part of their time to instruction and part to earning in mer-
cantile establishments or in factories, and (c) wage earners
who through the instrumentality of the schools will receive
supplementary education as a means of further training and
advancement.
There are many in the first group who are more or less
employed in wage earning occupations after school hours.
Those who are in the second group are not thinking so much
of the money earned as to the practical training which they
are acquiring. In the last group are those who, perhaps, ap-
preciate, most the privileges of an added education, for their
life work is already a matter of decision, and they have been
in it long enough to know their limitations. These workers
are less in need of technical and shop training, but do want
and need a theoretical training. It may be seen how valuable
to certain trades instruction in English, shop, mathematics,
mechanical drawing and blue print reading might be.
In fact, when a boy or girl leaves high school, he or she
will at least have something in the way of a foundation to
build his "house."
In writing somewhat fully of this trade vocational work,
it must be borne in mind that the high schools have their
courses of study so arranged that students may also prepare,
for the professions, entering the colleges and universities
with much of the preliminary work already accomplished,
thereby better equipped to begin their chosen work and short-
ening the college and special training necessary.
To understand the principles of great economic problems,
investigation has shown that education must begin with the
child.
In agriculture study, whatever the children do in the way
of farming, raising vegetables or raising animals, the cost and
the profit are considered and careful accounts are kept. These
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 261
exhibits which the schools have from time to time are im-
portant revelations of what the science of farming may be-
come. A farmer or rancher who has toiled for many years
might well attend them to learn something of the application
of soil culture along scientific lines, of improved methods in
raising live stock and the infinite economies of modern detail.
The latest development in the work of education in Los
Angeles is the application of the law which requires part time
school attendance of all children between the ages of sixteen
and eighteen years of age who are already employed in wage
earning occupations. This law was passed in this state in
May, 1919, and requires that all children between those ages
must be given four hours each week from their employer's
time in which to attend school.
In addition the law requires that foreigners between the
ages of eighteen and twenty-one, who do not know how to
spell, read and write, or have no knowledge of arithmetic
beyond the ability of a sixth grade child, must attend these
schools out of employer's time.
This bringing together of workers and employers, school
and teachers, the parents and the home, is an evolution of fine
democracy and in states where it has been tried seems, in a
measure to be answering the call of the world. In the last
year and a half, 1920, nineteen states have passed this part-
time law. Under this law compulsory attendance is increased
in a way which does not interfere with the earning capacity
of the child.
Thirty years have now elapsed since the time of the first
Teachers' Institute in Los Angeles, and at the time of which
the teaching force had only increased to the number of five in
the previous fifteen years. In the succeeding twenty years
the school enrollment had increased to over 16,000 children
with 379 teachers. The present enrollment is 141,744 children,
for whom 3,537 teachers are required.
In addition to the 15 high schools, 8 intermediate, and 164
elementary schools, there are under the system, 6 development
schools, 13 parental schools, 21 elementary evening schools
and 6 evening high schools.
Los Angeles has also, probably more than most cities of
262 LOS ANGELES
the country, the problem of a floating school population.
Tourists each year bring their children to the city to be placed
for a few months in our schools, and for them the schools and
equipment must be furnished in the same way that we care for
our own children.
The crowded condition of our schools has called for another
bond issue this year and which has been met by a large vote.
With the $9,500,000 under this issue, it is expected that within
the next five years other school buildings will be erected in
the various parts of the growing city.
Looking back on the past with its record of achievement,
the future measured with the same scale is full of possibilities.
In this swiftly changing world, with its many avenues of
progress, the schools will ever keep pace.
To those who are familiar with the more conservative parts
of our country, these opportunities may honestly be called
glorious. Los Angeles has a glowing faith in its own possi-
bilities and in school things tbere is a certain fearless ap-
proach to the new ideas of education. It is a notable fact that
some of the best things of modern educational work have been
tried out and proven successes in the schools of Los Angeles.
The first normal school of the state was in San Francisco,
and somewhat later moved to San Jose.
By act of Legislature, in 1881, a branch of the school at
San Jose was moved to Los Angeles*. An appropriation of
$50,000 was made for a building, and a tract of 5% acres was
bought on what was known as the Bellevue Terrace Orange
Grove on Fifth and Charity streets (Grand Avenue). To
buy this tract the citizens of Los Angeles raised the sum of
$8,000 by popular subscription.
One year later, August, 1882, the school was opened with
an attendance of sixty-one pupils and three teachers. Charles
H. Allen, the principal of the San Jose Normal School, was
also principal of the branch school here.
Another year later the Legislature added $10,000 to the
appropriation for the finishing and furnishing of the school.
In the same year Ira Moore, who had been the principal of
the State Normal School at St. Cloud, Minnesota, was elected
principal of the normal school here.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 263
The first class was graduated in 1884.
In 1887 the school here became independent of the San
Jose school, and as the Los Angeles State Normal School was
under the management of its own board of trustees.
It grew rapidly into an important institution, with so
large an attendance that it became necessary to enlarge the
school, and, looking to the future, a larger site was selected.
In 1907 the State Legislature authorized the sale of "Nor-
mal Hill," with the school buildings, and in 1911 granted an
appropriation for a new location. A year later, twenty acres
on North Vermont Avenue were purchased and subsequently
another five acres.
On November 18, 1913, the cornerstone of Millspaugh Hall
was laid, and in September, 1914, the school began its sessions
in the new buildings.
Other buildings have been added and the plan has assumed
noble and beautiful proportions. It is now a most harmonious
and dignified group of buildings.
During the administration of Mr. Ernest Carroll Moore
as president of the Los Angeles State Normal School, a change
was made and by act of Legislature, the school became what
is now known as the Southern Branch of the State University,
under the control of the board of regents.
The active management of the University is under the
president and an Academic Senate consisting of the faculties
and instructors of the university, of which Doctor Moore is
one at this writing, and on whom the burden of the manage-
ment of the southern branch falls.
As Miss Smith thus concludes her eloquent narrative of
the schools of Los Angeles, her reference to the normal school
reminds us that a century ago there was at San Gabriel, the
mother of Los Angeles, a normal school conducted by the
Franciscan missionary fathers and in which young men were
trained and equipped to teach in the various mission estab-
lishments of the Province of California.
Also in this general resume of the schools, it will be ob-
served that mention is made of public schools only, while the
fact is that Los Angeles contains numerous parochial and
private schools of the highest degree of culture and efficiency.
264 LOS ANGELES
So many and so excellent are these schools, indeed, that it is
a matter of regret to us not to be able to write of them more
fully because of the public character of this book. These non-
public schools have a glory all their own which doubtless will
be amply recorded by their own special historians.
But in conclusion, as far as the public schools of Los An-
geles are concerned, it is almost needless to say that their
splendor is a thing that has challenged the admiration of the
whole world. The stranger within our gates is profoundly
impressed at the very start with the greatness of our schools.
Everywhere he turns he sees magnificent structures over-
shadowing the architecture of Rome itself — structures reared
by a progressive and forward-going citizenship, regardless of
the weight of the burden of taxation which their system of
education put upon their shoulders and which they have borne
and continue to bear willingly.
CHAPTER XIV
THE MEDICINE MEN
It seems that the practice of medicine is as old as civiliza-
tion itself. We hear of doctors and medicine men with the
first things known about the human race. Even savage peo-
ples had their medicine men. Consequently, the history of
medicine in Los Angeles can be traced back, in a way, imme-
morially. When Los Angeles was the Indian village of
"Yang-na" and its inhabitants went to worship there in a
sacred spot known as "Vanquech," it was the medicine men
of the Indian tribes who held the chief places in the commu-
nity. And this was long ago — long, long ago — hundreds and
thousands of years before a white man even knew that Amer-
ica existed and when the sabre-toothed tiger and other prehis-
toric beasts chased the natives up trees and into caves all the
way from Santa Monica to the top of Mount Wilson, and
maybe farther.
Doubtless, also, there was a physician with the expedition
of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo when California was discovered
in the year 1542; and with Sebastian Viscano's ships in 1602;
and before that with Sir Francis Drake in 1579 when Cali-
fornia was new to civilization, and the world was still young-
after its 200,000,000 years of revolution around the sun.
But the first physician that came to California of whom
we have any record in the chronicles of white men was Dr.
Pedro Prat, who came with Don Gaspar de Portola and Fray
Junipero Serra in the expedition of 1769 which resulted in the
founding of the mission and the permanent attachment of
California to the world and civilization.
This is what we read in the old chronicles :
"After many months of great exertion, the expedition
which had for its object the permanent colonization of Cali-
fornia was ready to start. Three ships were in condition to
265
266 LOS ANGELES
make the voyage — two of them to be sent out together, and
the third to be sent later as a relief ship.
"The two ships that were to sail upon the appointed day
carried a portion of the troops, the camping outfit, the orna-
ments for the new churches that were to be builded, a goodly
supply of provisions and cargoes of agricultural implements
with which the Indians in the new country were to be taught
to till the soil.
"The first ship to sail was the San Carlos, a barque of
some 200 tons burden, under the command of Vicente Villa.
On this ship were also the surgeon, Pedro Prat ; Father Fer-
nando Paron, one of the Franciscan missionaries; twenty
Catalonian soldiers under command of Lieutenant Pedro
Fajes; and many other important personages, and also a
blacksmith, a baker and a cook. ' '
"On the ship was the surgeon Pedro Prat." Here, then,
we have the name of California's first doctor. And it turns
out that he was a great physician, an honor to his profession,
and that he had his hands full with the sick men who were
around him, and that he worked hard and broke down under
the strain that was upon him and gave up his own life, at
last, in his efforts to save the lives of others.
In the Good Book it says that "Greater love hath no man
than this that he lay down his life for his friend." This is
what Dr. Pedro Prat did, and I think it a kind of shame that
the members of the medical profession in Los Angeles and
throughout all California have never yet raised a monument
or a tablet or even a simple stone to commemorate the great
love and service and the fine abilities of Dr. Pedro Prat.
We find in the old records that the people who came with
this expedition of 1769 became sorely afflicted with many
maladies, chief among which was the terrible scourge of
scurvy. Their lives were hard and their constant diet of salt
meats made scurvy inevitable. And, night and day, through
all those desperate months while they wrought to plant Chris-
tianity and civilization on the soil of the strange new land to
which they had come, it was Dr. Pedro Prat who had upon his
devoted shoulders the heaviest burden to bear.
His scant supply of medicines that he had brought up with
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 267
him in the ship from the peninsula soon ran out. But even this
did not daunt him. He made a scientific study of the curative
plants and herbs in the valleys and hills round ahout San
Diego, and these he utilized, often with striking results, in the
cure of the sick.
Like all great physicians, like all true doctors, Pedro Prat
never gave a thought to himself while the cry of the sick was
in his ears.
We read also in later of the old chronicles of other white
physicians who came to California and made their headquar-
ters in the various missions.
One hundred and twenty-five years ago there was in Cali-
fornia a doctor whose name was Pablo Soler. There is ample
testimony that he was a learned man and a great physician
and surgeon. His name and fame still linger like a halo in
the memory of the old times. He was renowned from one end
of California to the other, and was a frequent visitor at the
Mission of San Gabriel. He covered many miles of territory
in his ministrations throughout all the places which now com-
pose the great City of Los Angeles. It is said of him that he
was constantly traveling up and down the King's Highway
like a great white angel of mercy healing the sick. Nor were
his services given wholly to those in high estate, the rich and
the great. The poor Indians everywhere were also the bene-
ficiaries of his skill and knowledge. Wherever Pablo Soler
heard the cry of suffering, he went to that place, no matter
how lowly the sufferer might be nor how great the hardship
that he himself was forced to endure.
It is a fascinating subject indeed, this story of the pioneer
doctors of California.
No doubt the early physicians found the mild, gentle cli-
mate of California a great aid to them in the successful prac-
tice of their profession. The vital and virulent diseases as-
sumed milder forms in this climate, and, of course, it is not
to be wondered at that in comparatively modern times — say,
fifty years ago — by way of boosting Los Angeles, no doubt, we
find a committee of the Los Angeles County Medical Asso-
ciation furnishing the local Board of Trade with a very elab-
orate disquisition on the benefits to be derived from the Los
268 LOS ANGELES
Angeles climate. This report was drafted and signed by
Drs. J. P. Widney, H. S. Orme and George W. Lasher, and it
is such a masterpiece that I feel it my duty to reproduce
it in these pages, if for no other reason that our present
denizens of this fortunate place may have the backing of sci-
entific authority in whatever claims they may make concern-
ing our climatic good fortune.
The report of the learned doctors bearing date of Novem-
ber 7, 1874, reads as follows:
"The interest felt in the climatic features of this portion
of California by people abroad and the heads of families es-
pecially, is perhaps paramount to all others. By those who,
from their extended knowledge acquired both by study and
practical experience in travel, are best qualified to judge, the
climate of Southern California is pronounced the best in the
world and alike beneficial to those in health, the invalid and
those liable to become victims of hereditary diseases.
"While the climate of the whole State has many features
in common, as the wet and dry seasons, instead of the eastern
winter and summer, and the prevalence during the summer
or dry months, of the great northwest trade winds, sweeping
steadily from the sea over the land, yet there are many points
of divergence in different localities. This difference in cli-
mate is especially marked between Northern and Southern
California. The mountain ranges and the valleys of all the
northern portion of the State have a generally northwesterly
trend, leaving the country open to the harsh sweep of the
north winds. In Southern California, however, the trend of
both mountains and valleys is from east to west, and the high
Sierra, like a wall, shelters the land from these cold northerly
currents. The result is a climate much milder and more equa-
ble than in the upper portion of the State. It might be sup-
posed that the country lying in the same latitude as the Caro-
linas would have some oppressive and debilitating summer
heat. From this it is saved, however, by the tempered westerly
trade wind, which daily blows inward to the land, bringing with
it the coolness of the sea. There is a peculiar stimulus in this
air coming in from the thousands of miles of salt water. One
has to live by the sea to understand it. The key of the cli-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 269
mate lies in this, that it has a warm sun and cool air; hence
the cool nights. One picks ripening figs and bananas grown
in. his own dooryard, and then goes to sleep under a blanket.
The warm, yet not debilitating day furnishes one of the requi-
sites in a climate for invalids. The cool, restful night, with its
possibility of refreshing sleep, furnishes the other. The
question is asked daily. in letters from the East what disease
and what class of invalids may hope for benefit in coming to
Southern California. In reply it might be stated :
"1st. Persons of delicate constitution, either inherited or
acquired, and who resist poorly the extremes either of heat or
cold — persons who need a warm, equable, yet rather bracing
climate.
"2nd. Persons inheriting consumption, but in whom the
disease has not yet developed, or only to a slight degree.
Many such persons seem to throw off the tendency and remain
strong and well. Even if parents, coming with the disease,
do not in the end recover, their children, growing up in this
climate, have a strong chance in their favor of eliminating the
inherited tendency entirely from their blood and casting off
the family taint.
"3rd. Persons well advanced in consumption are often
temporarily benefited. Such persons should think well, how-
ever, before leaving the comforts of their own home and un-
dertaking the fatigue of even a week of travel by railroad.
It should not be done unless under the advice of the family
physician, and if they do come they should be accompanied by
friends. The despondency of loneliness and homesickness
diminishes greatly the chance of benefit.
"4th. Persons suffering with bronchial troubles are often
much benefited. Such cases, however, and indeed many others,
too often make the mistake of remaining for weeks or months
without seeking the advice of a physician as to the particular
locality suited to their complaint. The varieties of climate in
Southern California are many. Some portions of the county
have nightly a heavy fog; other portions only a few miles
away have no fog. Some sections are exposed to strong
winds ; others are sheltered. Some are low and damp ; others
high, warm and dry. Often persons go away disappointed,
270 LOS ANGELES
possibly worse, who, had they sought proper advice as to the
especial locality suited to their complaint, might have received
much benefit from their sojourn in the country. There are
certain precautions, also rendered necessary for invalids by
the coming on of the cool night air after the warm day, and
by the cool breeze from the sea, which can only be learned
by experience, which to an invalid is a costly teacher, or from
the advice of a physician familiar with the climate and the
peculiarities of the different localities.
"5th. Those coming from malarious sections of the coun-
try, with systems depressed by the dregs of fever, are espe-
cially benefited. It is a common custom with the people here
to go down to various pleasant points upon the sea coast and
camp out for weeks upon the beach, enjoying the surf bathing.
There are also well furnished and well kept hotels at different
localities by the sea. This seaside life is especially beneficial
to persons suffering from the various forms of malarial poi-
soning.
"6th. The open-air life which is here possible, and the
great variety of fresh vegetable foods to be had at all seasons,
help to break up the dyspeptic troubles which make life a bur-
den to so many overworked men.
"7th. Many persons suffering from asthma have derived
much benefit from the climate. The capricious character of
the malady — no two persons suited to the same surroundings
— make it difficult to give advice in most countries to the suf-
ferer, because of the limited range of elevation and climatic
differences from which to choose. Here, however, within a
circle of a hundred and fifty miles one may find spots below
the sea level, at the sea level, or with an elevation of 10,000
feet above it; spots with nightly a heavy fog, and spots that
never know the presence of a fog ; places swept by an almost
constant breeze and others sheltered from all wind ; the odors
and gases of asphaltum and petroleum springs, or the air of
the mountain pineries; the scent of the orange blossom, or
the balsamic odor of the plants of the desert. Differences of
elevation, which elsewhere one travels a thousand miles to
find, here he finds within a radius of fifty miles.
' ' 8th. Some cases of chronic rheumatism are benefited by
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 271
the climate. Certain hot mineral springs and iron sulphur
springs have gained quite a reputation in such affections. The
climate of the coast line, however, has rather too much fog.
Such cases do better in the portion of the country back from
the sea and among the mountains. There are points along
the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, as it crosses the
Colorado Desert, where the hot, dry air, both night and day,
and the warm springs for bathing, offer the very best climatic
requisite for the relief of such affections.
"9th. Chronic kidney and bladder troubles find in the
mild climate, with its possibility of constant outdoor life and
the equable winter and summer temperature, the surroundings
best suited to at least stay the course of the disease.
"10th. Cases of nervous prostration, and all the innu-
merable train of tormenting ills that come to an overtaxed or
deranged nervous system, may hope for relief by a residence
in some one of the many pleasant spots that dot the land.
The warm, clear day tempts to the outdoor life, and the cool
night gives the refreshing sleep so needed in this class of
maladies. Strangers speak almost invariably of the restful
slumber of the night.
"In conclusion, there are a number of facts which have an
important bearing upon the subject of Southern California as
a health resort, and yet are not in themselves directly ques-
tions of disease. Among these may be mentioned exemption
from the epidemics of yellow fever, which visit the Gulf
States ; ease of access, the country being tapped in all direc-
tions by branches of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It is an
agricultural and business center, with business openings for a
largely increased population. It is the educational center of
a large scope of territory, with its institutions of learning
solidly established. It is well supplied with churches, and
offers all the advantages of the best society. Food is abun-
dant, varied and cheap, so that the expense of living is not
great. And finally, it is not across the ocean or upon some
foreign shore, where the invalid is an alien or a stranger, but
within our own land, under our own flag, and among our own
people."
We feel that great credit should be given these physicians
272 LOS ANGELES
who framed this very able, scientific document. And we are
reproducing it fully in this book for the reason that it is im-
portant, and that it is just as true now as it was the day it
was written. After all, sunshine is a great doctor and climate
is great medicine if it be kindly climate. Certainly these
devoted physicians who set forth with such patience and dis-
cernment the climate of Los Angeles rendered the whole world
a valuable service.
It may be that in these times the climate of Los Angeles is
more celebrated. Surely it is far better known than it was
a half century ago. We all know, at any rate, that wise phy-
sicians in the East and in the northern latitudes of our country
habitually send their patients to Southern California.
Los Angeles lies between God's two great sanitariums, the
desert and the sea. Countless thousands who have come here
sick both in body and in mind have found health and hap-
piness.
Wherefore, the medicine men being now as always really
the chief men of any community, it will be interesting to see
what there is to know about them as far as Los Angeles is
concerned.
Mr. H. D. Barrows of Los Angeles, whose contributions
to the Southern California Historical Society have been so
valuable, gives the following interesting account of some old
papers, particularly a fee table of the year 1850, with remarks
on some of the Los Angeles physicians of the period, whom he
personally knew :
"In turning over to the Historical Society the accompany-
ing brief historical document, (which I lately received from
Ex-Sheriff Wm. R. Rowland,) containing the signatures of
four early physicians of Los Angeles, I have thought that
some account of two of the signers whom I knew quite well,
would be of interest to the members of our society.
"The document referred to, which Ex-Sheriff Rowland
found among old papers of the Sheriff's office, was a public
notice or 'Aviso' of the scale of charges (in Spanish) by the
doctors of that period, (January, 1850) for their professional
services, as follows:
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 273
Aviso. (Translation)
" A la junta de la Faeultad Notice
de Medicos de Los Angeles, At a meeting- of the Medical
Enero 14th, 1850, la seguienta Faculty of Los Angeles, Jan-
lista de precios era adoptado : nary 1-4, 1850, the following
Art. 1. Por una pre- list of prices was adopted :
scripcion en la of- Art. 1. For an office
ficina $ 5.00 prescription $ 5.00
Art. 2. Por una visita Art. 2. For a day visit
en la ciudad de dia . . . 5.00 within the city 5.00
Art. 3. Por una visita Art. 3. For a night visit
en la ciudad de noche 10.00 within the city 10.00
Art, 4. Por una visita Art. 4. For a visit in
en el campo par cada the country, for each
legua 5.00 league 5.00
Art. 5. Por una San- Art. 5. For bleeding. . 5.00
gria 5.00 Art. 6. For cupping. . . 10.00
Art. 6. Por cada apli- We subscribe our names to
eacion de Ventoses. . . 10.00 the foregoing :
Firmamos nuestros nom- (Signers)
bres al antecedente : Chas. E, Culled.
(Firnados.) A. I. Blackburn.
Chas. R. Cullen. J. W. Dodge.
A. I. Blackburn. ¥m. B. Osbourn.
J. W. Dodge.
GUILLERMO B. OSBOURN.
''Dr. Guillermo B. Osbourn, one of the signers, who was
a native of New York, came to California in 1847 in Col. Ste-
venson 's regiment. He established the first drug store in Los
Angeles in 1850, which was succeeded in '51 by that of Me-
Farland and Downey. Daguerreotypes were first taken in
Los Angeles by Dr. Osbourn and Moses Searles, on Aug. 9,
1851. In fact Dr. Osbourn 's versatility was something re-
markable. It is not easy to recount all the official positions
he filled, or the numerous important public functions he per-
formed. In those early days immediately after the change
of government, by means of his rare intellectual ability, to-
Vol. 1—18
274 LOS ANGELES
getlier with his knowledge of the Spanish language, he made
himself a very useful citizen in various capacities.
"When, as often happened in that period, an acquaintance
with Spanish was a necessity, he often acted as Deputy Sheriff.
In 1853 he was appointed Postmaster of this city by President
Buchanan. In 1855 he projected the first artesian well in
Southern California, at the foot of the hills not very far from
the present junction of First Street and Broadway. It reached
a depth of about 800 feet in June, 1856, being still in blue
clay, when it was abandoned for want of funds.
"In 1852 fruit grafts of improved varieties had been in-
troduced by Mayor J. G. Nichols. In 1855 Dr. Osbourn im-
ported from Bochester a grand collection of roses and other
choice shrubbery as well as many varieties of the best Ameri-
can fruit trees, which up to that time were almost unknown
here. He was the first, too, in October, 1854, to ship East,
fresh Los Angeles grapes, which were exhibited and com-
manded admiration at a meeting of the business committee of
the New York Agricultural Society at Albany. And it is
worthy of mention in this connection, that as late as Novem-
ber, 1856, when Matthew Keller sent a like specimen, it was
almost doubted at the U. S. Patent Office 'if such products
were common in California.'
"Henry Osbourn, a son of the doctor by his first wife, was
for years and until recently, an interpreter in our local courts.
He lost his life through an accident not very long ago.
"Dr. Osbourn 's second wife, who was a native Calif ornian,
is, I believe, still living in this city.
"Dr. Osbourn with all his versatility, was not always over-
scrupulous as to the means he sometimes employed in carrying
out his schemes. He once recounted to me, without even a
semblance of self reproach, how he took an active part on
a certain occasion in a political contest. Sometime in the early
'50s, when an election was on for a State Senator, and San
Bernardino was a part of Los Angeles County, he was exceed-
ingly anxious to carry the precinct of Agua Mansa, which was
mostly settled by Mexicans, who knew very little or no Eng-
lish. So he went to the Padre who had more influence in his
parish than any other person, and used his most suave meth-
FKOM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 275
ods of electioneering with the Padre in behalf of his candi-
date; and then to clinch the matter, he asked the Padre to
pray for the repose of the soul of his mother — who was then
alive and well in New York State. And on the next feast
day the wily doctor was on hand at the church and on his
knees, joining the Padre and his flock, in praying for the re-
pose of his mother's soul. He added with just a shade of ex-
ultation, that his candidate was elected.
"Drs. Blackburn and Dodge, two other signers of the ac-
companying document, I was not acquainted with.
"Dr. Chas. R. Cullen I knew intimately, as he was my
room mate for a considerable portion of the time, from my
arrival in Los Angeles in 1854, till he left for his home in
Virginia in the latter part of '56.
"Dr. Cullen was a native of Virginia and a graduate of
Brown University. He and his brother John came to Cali-
fornia soon after the discovery of the mines. The doctor was
a cultivated and genial gentleman whom all who made his ac-
quaintance could not help liking. The Spanish speaking por-
tion of our community were especially attached to him, both
as a sympathetic friend and as a physician; and for years
after he went away I remember that if his name was men-
tioned in the presence of those native Californians who had
made his acquaintance, they would invariably manifest pleas-
ure at the recall of his memory and would exclaim: 'Ay Don
Carlos! donde esta el?' or, 'Que buen b ombre era!' or similar
expressions of kindly feelings towards him.
"When the San Francisco Bulletin was established, Mr. C.
O. Gerberding (father of several persons of that name in Cal-
ifornia, and also, I believe, of Mrs. Senator Bard), was the
business manager, and James King of William was the brave
and accomplished editor. Mr. Gerberding and Dr. Cullen had
been old friends in Richmond before they came to California ;
and as the management of the paper desired to have a perma-
nent resident correspondent at Los Angeles they entered
into an engagement with Dr. Cullen to fill that position, pay-
ing him at the rate of ten dollars a column. Late in Novem-
ber, '56, Dr. Cullen concluded to return East, and stopping
on his way at San Francisco, it appears he recommended me,
276 LOS ANGELES
without my knowledge, as his successor as correspondent of
the Bulletin; and accordingly he wrote me at their request,
asking me to keep up the correspondence, on the same terms,
etc., which I did for several years thereafter, writing gen-
erally by each semimonthly steamer, giving a general resume
of current events in Southern California.
"Before I had any connection with the paper the as-
sassination of James King of William had given the paper
much prominence, and it had already become the leading jour-
nal of the Pacific Coast. It was very ably edited, ostensibly
by a brother of James King of William, but in reality by
Mr. James Nisbet, a Scotchman, one of the most industrious
and the finest, literary journalists whom I ever had any ac-
quaintance with.
"In 1857 I made a trip East, and I went to Richmond to
visit Dr. Cullen. Dr. Charley Cullen was then located and
practicing his profession near Hanover Court House, a very
few years afterwards the localitv of terrific fighting in the
Civil War.
' ' In after years I kept up a more or less intermittent cor-
respondence with the doctor, till his death several years ago.
"Dr. Cullen was a thoroughly conscientious man and a
religious man — in which he differed widely from Dr. Os-
bourn, whose only church affiliation, so far as I knew, was
that serio-comic episode at 'Agua Mansa.'
"When the late Dr. J. C. Fletcher came to Los Angeles,
Dr. Cullen wrote me asking me to hunt him up, which I did,
and found him to be a very cultivated and widely-traveled
gentleman.
"Dr. Cullen and Dr. Fletcher were classmates and grad-
uates of Brown University."
And in an interesting account of pioneer physicians of
Los Angeles by the same writer, most interesting sketches of
Drs. John Marsh, Richard S. Den and John S. Griffin are
given, as follows:
The first three educated physicians who practiced their
profession in Los Angeles for longer or shorter periods, of
whom we have anv record, were:
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 277
Dr. John Marsh, who came here in January, 1836 ;
Dr. Richard S. Den, who arrived in California in 1843;
Dr. John S. Griffin, assistant surgeon, U. S. A., who ar-
rived in 1846.
A brief account of each of these trained physicians and
surgeons ought to be of interest to the present generation.
Doctor Marsh was a native of Massachusetts, and a grad-
uate of Harvard College and also of its medical school. He
came to Los Angeles by way of Santa Fe. In the archives of
this city, Translations, Vol. 2, p. 113 (session of the Ayunta-
miento or Town Council, of 18th February, 1836), the follow-
ing record is found :
* A petition from a foreigner, Don Juan Marchet
(John Marsh; the sound of sh at the ending of a word is un-
known in the Spanish tongue), a native of the United States
of the North, was read. He asks that this illustrious Ayun-
tamiento consider him as having appeared, he declaring his
intention of locating in this city, and also that he is a phy-
sician and surgeon. The 111. Ayuntamiento decided, in con-
formity with the law of April 14, 1828, as follows: Record
and forward the certified copy, reminding said Marchet
(Marsh) that he cannot practice surgery until he has ob-
tained permission from the Ayuntamiento. " * * * (Min-
utes of this meeting were signed :) "Manuel Requena, Pres. ;
Tiburcio Tapia, Rafael Guirado, Basilio Valdez, Jose Ma.
Herrera, Abel Stearns, Narcisco Botello."
At page 117 of archives (session of 25th February, 1836)
this minute occurs : " * * * A petition from Mr. Juan
Marchet (Marsh) asking to be permitted to practice his pro-
fession, was read. The 111. Body decided to give him per-
misison to practice his profession, as he has submitted for
inspection his diploma, which was found to be correct, and
also for the reason that he would be very useful to the com-
munity."
His diploma being in Latin, it is said that, as no one could
be found in Los Angeles who understood that language, the
document had to be sent to San Gabriel for the mission priest
to translate, and which, as noted, was found correct.
He entered upon the practice of his profession, but as
278 LOS ANGELES
money was an almost unknown quantity in the old pueblo, he
had to take his fees in horses, cattle and hides, a currency
exceedingly inconvenient to carry around. So, early in 1837,
he abandoned the practice of medicine, quitted Los Angeles,
and went north to find a cattle range. Yerba Buena, now San
Francisco, at the time the letter was written, contained two
houses. He located on the Rancho Los Medanos, near Monte
Diablo, where he lived until he was murdered by a Mexican in
1856. A letter written by him descriptive of California, and
published in a Missouri paper in 1840, was instrumental in
causing the organization in the spring of 1841 of the first
immigrant train that crossed the plains to California.
This is the letter :
"Yerba Buena, March 27, 1837.
"J. M. Guinn:
"Dear Sir:— I have been wandering about the country for
several weeks and gradually becoming acquainted both with it
and its inhabitants. This is the best part of the country, and
in fact the only part that is at all adapted to agriculturists
from our country. Nothing more is wanted but just and equal
laws and a government — yes, any government that can be
permanent and combine the confidence and good will of those
who think. I have good hope, but not unmixed with doubt
and apprehension. News has just arrived that an army from
Sonora is on its march for the conquest and plunder of Cali-
fornia. Its force is variously stated from two to six hundred
men. This, of course, keeps everything in a foment.
"I have had a choice of two districts of land offered to
me, and in a few days I shall take one or the other. A brig
of the H. B. Co. (Hudson Bay Co.) is here from the Columbia
with Capt. Young (who has come to buy cattle) and other
gentlemen of the company. I have been at the headwaters
of the Sacramento and met with near a hundred people from
the Columbia; in fact, they and the people here regard each
other as neighbors. Indeed, a kinder spirit exists here and
less of prejudice and distrust to foreigners than in the pur-
lieus of the City of the Angels.
"It is my intention to undergo the ceremony of baptism in
a few days, and shall shortly need the certificate of my appli-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 279
cation for letters of naturalization. My application was made
to the Most Illustrious Council of the City of the Angels, in
the month of January, last year (1836). I wish you would
do me the favor to obtain a certificate in the requisite form
and direct it to me at Monterey to the care of Mr. Spence.
Mr. Spear is about to remove to this place. Capt. Steele's ship
has been damaged and is undergoing repairs, which will soon
be completed. I expect to be in the Angelic City some time
in May.
"Please give my respects to Messrs. Warner and W. M.
Prior and all ' enquiring friends. '
"Very respectfully,
"Your ob't. servant,
"John Maesh."
Dr. R. S. Den was born in Ireland in 1821. After receiv-
ing a thorough education as a physician, surgeon and ob-
stetrician, he was appointed surgeon of a passenger ship
bound for Australia in 1842. Prom thence he came via Val-
paraiso to Mazatlan, where he received with delight news
from his brother Nicolas, from whom he had not heard for
some years, and who was then living at Santa Barbara. Re-
signing his position as surgeon, he came to California, arriv-
ing at San Pedro August 21, and at Santa Barbara September
1, 1843, at the age of twenty-two years.
In the winter of 1843-44 Doctor Den was called to Los An-
geles to perform some difficult surgical operations, when he
received a petition, signed by leading citizens, both native
and foreign, asking him to remain and practice his profession.
And so, in July, 1844, he returned to Los Angeles. From that
time on, until his death in 1895, he made his home here, with
the exception of a brief period in the mines, and about twelve
years, from 1854 to 1866, in which he had to look after inter-
ests of his stock rancho of San Marcos, in Santa Barbara
County.
A much fuller account of Doctor Den and his long and
honorable career in Southern California during the pioneer
times, may be found in the "Illustrated History of Los An-
280 LOS ANGELES
geles County, ' ' published in 1889, pp. 197-200, which also con-
tains a steel engraving and good likeness of Doctor Den.
In the Medical Directory of 1878 the following paragraph
appears. " It is of record that Dr. R. S. Den, in obedience to
the laws of Mexico relating to foreigners, did present his
diplomas as physician and surgeon to the government of the
country, March 14, 1844, and that he received special license
to practice from said government."
The document here referred to, Doctor Den, in the latter
years of his life, showed to me. It was signed by Governor
Micheltorena ; and, as it was an interesting historical docu-
ment, I asked that he present it to the Historical Society,
which he promised to do. At his death I took considerable
pains to have the paper hunted up, but without success. His
heirs (the children of his brother Nicolas) apparently had but
little idea of the historical value of such a document and there-
fore it probably has been lost.
Dr. John S. Griffin, who for nearly half a century was an
eminent citizen and an eminent physician and surgeon of Los
Angeles, was a native of Virginia, born in 1816, and a grad-
uate of the medical department of the University of Pennsyl-
vania. After practicing his profession some three years in
Louisville he entered the U. S. army as assistant surgeon,
serving under General Worth in Florida and on the south-
west frontier. As I presented the Historical Society a con-
densed sketch of Doctor Griffin's life on the occasion of his
death, three years ago (published in the society's Annual of
1898, pp. 183-5), I would here refer members to that sketch;
and for further details, to the account that I wrote, taken
down mainly from his own lips, for the Illustrated History of
this county of 1889, pp. 206-7, which latter is accompanied
by an excellent stipple steel portrait of Doctor Griffin. There
are many citizens of Los Angeles and in fact, of California,
still living who knew Doctor Griffin well and esteemed him
highly. His death occurred in this city August 23, 1898.
Of other physicians and surgeons who practiced their pro-
fession in Los Angeles in early times, there were Drs. A. P.
Hodges, the first mayor of the city, and A. W. Hope, who was
the first state senator from the first senatorial district; and
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 281
Doctors MeFarlane, Downey (afterwards governor of the
state), Thos. Foster, T. J. White, E. T. Hayes, Winston,
Cullen, and others ; and during the '50s and '60s and later,
many others too numerous to mention.
Mr. Barrow's friend, Mr. Moulton, who came to Los An-
geles in 1845, informed him that he knew two other doctors
who practiced here for a short time between '45 and '49 ; one
of them a Frenchman, who went to San Diego with Doctor
Griffin to assist him in treating the wounded soldiers, and who,
Doctor Griffin said, was a first-class surgeon ; and an American
named Keefe. The Frenchman's name has been forgotten.
From "California Pamphlets," on page 42 of the Centen-
nial History, we excerpt the following item, which is of inter-
est in connection with the above :
For physician in 1850 has W. B. Osborne, A. P. Hodges,
W. W. Jones, A. W. Hope and Overstreet; in 1851 John
Brinckerhoff, Thomas Foster and J. P. McFarland; in 1852,
James B. Winston and others. Dr. J. S. Griffin returned to
reside here in August, 1854. Dr. Richard S. Den was a phy-
sician esteemed highly, prior to 1843. Doctor Osborne was a
native of New York, came to California in 1847, in Colonel
Stevenson's regiment. He put up the first drug store in 1850,
which was followed by that of McFarland and Downey in 1851.
Our first daguerreotypes were taken by him and Moses
Searles, August 9, 1851. He often acted as deputy sheriff —
impossible to recount his various functions ; a most useful
man anywhere — friendly among his neighbors, of intelligence
and public spirit. He was the projector of the famed artesian
well near the hill on the west side of the city. It reached the
depth of 780 feet, but was abandoned by the company for
want of funds. The third drug store was that of A. W. Hope,
September, 1854; the fourth of Dr. Henry R. Myles, in 1860;
then Winston & Welch— Dr. J. C. Welch ; then Dr. Theodore
Wollweber, 1863. The first dentist was J. W. Gaylord. Dr. J.
C. Welch died August 1, 1869 ; he was a native of South Caro-
lina. Doctor Hope was born in Virginia; died in the year
1855.
On page 273 of the publications of the Historical Society
of California is an account of some eccentric characters of
282 LOS ANGELES
early Los Angeles, one of whom, named William Money,
among numerous other accomplishments, was also a "doctor"
and an author of a medical work as well. Particular attention
is called to his statement published in a newspaper of Los
Angeles in 1855 that his book, "The California Family Med-
ical Instructor," contained a list of 5,000 patients who had
been under his care, of whom only four to his knowledge died
while under his treatment — a statement sufficiently suspicious
to make one think him related to some of the originators of
modern-day "isms."
The sketch to which we refer gives the following account
of his interesting career :
The early years in the history of the new towns of the
West were productive of eccentric characters — men who
drifted in from older civilizations and made a name for them-
selves or rather, as it frequently happened, had a name made
for them by their fellow men.
These local celebrities gained notoriety in their new homes
by their oddities, by their fads, their crankiness, or some other
characteristic that made them the subject of remark. With
some the eccentricity was natural; with others it was culti-
vated, and yet again with others force of circumstances or
some event not of their own choosing made them cranks or
oddities, and gave them nicknames that stuck to them closer
than a brother.
No country in the world was more productive of quaint
characters and odd geniuses than the mining camps of early
California. A man's history began with his advent in the
camp. His past was wiped out — was ancient history, not
worth making a note of. What is he now ? What is he good
for? were the vital questions.. Even his name was sometimes
wiped out, and he was rechristened — given some cognomen
entirely foreign to his well known characteristics. It was
the irony of fate that stood sponsor at his baptism. "Pious
Pete" was the most profane man in the camp, and Pete was
not his front name. His profanity was so profuse, so impres-
sive, that it seemed an invocation, almost a prayer.
There was another class of eccentricities in the cities and
towns of California where life was less strenuous than in the
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 283
mining camps. These were men with whims or fads some-
times sensible, sometimes half insane, to which they devoted
themselves until they became noted as notorious cranks.
San Francisco had its Philosopher Pickett, its Emperor
Norton and a host of others of like ilk. Los Angeles had rep-
resentatives of this class in its early days, but unfortunately
the memory of but few of them has been salted down in the
brine of history.
In delving recently among the rubbish of the past for
scraps of history, I came across a review of the first book
printed in Los Angeles — the name of the book, its author and
its publisher. But for that review, these would have been lost
to fame.
It is not probable that a copy of the book exists, and possi-
bly no reader of that book is alive today — not that the book
was fatal to its readers; it had very few — but the readers
were fatal to the book; they did not preserve it. That book
was the product of an eccentric character. Some of you knew
him. His name was William Money, but he preferred to have
the accent placed on the last syllable, and was known as
"Money." Bancroft says of him: "Scotchman, the date and
manner of whose coming are not known, was at Los Angeles
in 1843." I find from the old archives he was here as early as
1841. In the winter of 1841-42 he made repairs on the Plaza
Church to the amount of $126. Bancroft in his Pioneer Reg-
ister states: "He is said to have come as the servant of a
scientific man, whose methods and ideas he adopted. His wife
was a handsome Sonorena. In '46 the couple started for
Sonora with Coronel, and were captured by Kearny's force.
They returned from the Colorado with the Mormon battalion.
Money became an eccentric doctor, artist and philosopher at
San Gabriel, where his house, in 1880, was filled with pon-
derous tomes of his writings, and on the simple condition of
buying $1,000 worth of these I was offered his pioneer rem-
iniscences. He died a few years later. His wife, long divorced
from him, married a Frenchman. She was also living at Los
Angeles in '80. It was her daughter who killed Chico For-
ster."
Bancroft fails to enumerate all of Money's titles. He was
284 LOS ANGELES
variously called Professor Money, Doctor Money and Bishop
Money. He was a self -constituted doctor and a self -anointed
bishop. He aspired to found a great religious sect. He made
his own creed and ordained himself "Bishop, Deacon and
Defender of the Re-Formed New Testament Church of the
Faith of Jesus Christ. ' '
Doctor Money had the inherent love of a Scotchman for
theological discussion. He was always ready to attack a
religious dogma or assail a creed. When not discussing the-
ological questions or practicing medicines, he dabbled in sci-
ence and made discoveries.
In Book II of Miscel. Records of L. A. County, recorded
September 18, 1872, is a map or picture of a globe labeled
"Wm. Money's Discovery of the Ocean." Around the north
pole are a number of convolving lines which purport to rep-
resent a "whirling ocean." Passing down from the north pole
to the south, like the vertebrae of a great fish, is a subterra-
nean ocean. Beyond this on each side are the exhaustless fiery
regions, and outside, a rocky mountain chain that evidently
keeps the earth from bursting. At the south pole gush out
two currents a mile wide marked the Kuro Siwo. There is
no explanation of the discovery and no statement of which
ocean, the whirling or the subterranean, that Doctor Money
claimed to have discovered. Evidently a hole at the north
pole sucks in the waters of the whirling ocean, which pass
down through the subterranean ocean and are heated by the
exhaustless fiery regions which border that ocean; then these
heated waters are spurted out into space at the south pole.
What becomes of them afterwards the records do not show.
From some cause Doctor Money disliked the people of San
Francisco. In his scientific researches he made the discovery
that that part of the earth's crust on which that city stands
was almost burnt through, and he prophesied that the crust
would soon break and the City of the Bay would drop down
into the exhaustless fiery regions and be wiped out like Sodom
and Gomorrah of old !
The review of Doctor Money's book, which I have men-
tioned, was written by the genial Col. J. 0. Wheeler, then
editor of the Southern Californian, a paper that died and was
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 285
buried in the journalistic graveyard of unfelt wants forty-
eight years ago. Colonel Wheeler was a walking library of
local history. He could tell a story well and had a fund of
humorous ones, but I could never persuade him to write out
his reminiscences for publication. He died, and his stories
of the olden times died with him, just as so many of the old
pioneers will do, die and leave no record behind them.
Doctor Money's book was written and published in 1854.
Colonel Wheeler's review is quite lengthy, filling nearly two
columns of the Californian. I omit a considerable portion of
it. The review says : "We are in luck this week, having been
the recipients of a very interesting literary production en-
titled 'Reform of the New Testament Church,' by Win.
Money, Bishop, Deacon and Defender of the Faith of Jesus
Christ.
"The volume by Professor Money comes to us bound in
the beautiful coloring so much admired, and is finely gotten
up and executed at the Star office in this city. Its title de-
notes the general objects of the work which have been fol-
lowed out in the peculiar style of the well-known author, and
in the emphatic language of the Council General, Upper Cali-
fornia, City of Los Angeles, we pronounce it a work worthy
of all dignified admiration, a reform which ecclesiastics and
civil authorities have not been able to comply with yet.
"The work opens with an original letter from the afore-
said Council General, which met August the 7th, 1854, near
the main zanja in this city; said letter was indited, signed,
sealed 'by supplication of the small flock of Jesus Christ'
represented by Ramon Tirado, president, and Francis Contre-
ras, secretary, and directed with many tears to the great de-
fender of the new faith, who, amid the quiet retreats with
which the rural districts abound, had pensively dwelt on the
noble objects of his mission, and, in fastings and prayer, con-
cocted this great work of his life.
' ' The venerable prelate, in an elaborate prefix to his work,
informs the public that he was born, to the best of his recollec-
tion, about the year 1807, from which time up to the anniver-
sary of his seventh year, his mother brought him up by hand.
He says, by a singular circumstance (the particular circum-
286 LOS ANGELES
stance is not mentioned), I was born with four teeth, and with
the likeness of a rainbow in my right eye.
It would seem that his early youth was marked by more
than ordinary capacity, as we find him at seven entering upon
the study of natural history; how far he proceeded, or if he
proceeded at all, is left for his readers to determine. At the
age of twelve, poverty compelled him to "bind himself to a
paper factory. ' ' Next year, being then thirteen years of age,
having made a raise, he commenced the studies of philosophy,
civil law, medicine, philosophy of sound in a conch shell, pe-
culiar habits of the muskrat, and the component parts of
Swain's vermifuge. Thirsting for still further knowledge,
four years afterwards we find him entering upon the study
of theology; and he says: "In this year (1829) I commenced
my travels in foreign countries," and the succeeding year
found him upon the shores of the United States, indefatigable
in body and mind ; the closing of the same year found him in
Mexico, still following the sciences above mentioned, but the-
ology in particular.
About this time he commenced those powerful discussions
with the Eoman clergy in which our author launched forth
against the old church those terrible denunciations as effective
as they were unanswerable, and which for thirty years he has
been hurling against her.
Perhaps the most memorable of all his efforts was the
occasion of the last arguments had Math the Eoman clergy
concerning abuses which came off in the Council of Pitaquitos,
a small town in Sonora, commencing on the 20th of October,
1835, which continued to May 1, 1840, a period of five years.
This convocation had consumed much time in its preparation,
and the clergy, aware of the powerful foe with whom they
had to deal, and probable great length of time which would
elapse, selected their most mighty champions; men who in
addition to a glib tongue and subtle imagination, were cele-
brated for their wonderful powers of endurance. There were
seven skilled disputants arrayed against Money, but he van-
quished them single-handed.
The discussion opened on the following propositions : The
Bishop of Culiacan and he of Durango disputed that Wm.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 287
Money believed that the Virgin Mary was the mother of Jesus,
but not the mother of Christ. William Money makes his
application to God, but not to the Virgin Mary.
These and other learned propositions were discussed and
rediscussed constantly for five years, during which writing
paper arose to such an enormous price that special enact-
ments were made, withdrawing the duties thereon. Time
would not admit of detailing the shadow of what transpired
during the session.
Suffice it to say that through the indomitable faith and
energy of Mr. Money, his seven opponents were entirely
overcome; one sickened early in the second year and was con-
strained to take a voyage by sea; two others died of hemor-
rhage of the lungs ; one went crazy ; two became converted and
left the council in the year 1838 and were found by Mr. Money
on the breaking up of the council to have entered into
connubial bonds, and were in the enjoyment of perfect hap
piness. The other two strenuously held out to the year 1840 ;
when, exhausted, sick and dismayed, the council, in the Ian
guage of the author, was broken up by offering Money to give
up his sword, the "Word of God, but he protested, saying
"God keep me from such treacherous men, and from becoming
a traitor to my God. ' '
Thus ended this famous disputation of which history fur-
nishes no parallel. From the foregoing our readers can form
an idea of this great work. It forms a volume of twenty-two
pages, printed in English and Spanish, with notes.
Doctor Money seems to have considered his call to preach
paramount to his call to practice. In a card to the public,
published in the Star of November 3, 1855, he says: "I am
sorry to inform the public that since the Reformed New
Testament Church has unanimously conferred on me the
office of Bishop, Deacon, and Defender of the Faith of said
apostolic church, it is at present inconvenient for me any
longer to practice my physical system. My California Family
Medical Instructor is now ready for the press, containing my
three physical systems, in about 200 pages and 50 plates of
the human body. It will likewise contain a list of about five
thousand patients that I have had under my physical treat-
288 LOS ANGELES
ment in the course of fifteen years' practice, from the port
of San Diego to that of San Francisco. Out of this large
number only four, to my knowledge, have died while under
my treatment. I do not publish this for the purpose of get-
ting into practice, but only to get out of it."
His Family Medical Instructor was probably the second
book written in Los Angeles, but whether it was ever pub-
lished is not known. Some twenty-five years ago, when the
public library was in the old Downey Block, he had on file in
it a set of plates of the human body. He removed to San
Gabriel, where he lived in a curiously constructed adobe house.
He died in 1890, at San Gabriel. His books and papers were
lost.
It is of the greatest interest to go back over the records
and find what folks were doing concerning sanitation and the
effort to preserve the public health in the old times of Los
Angeles before the men and women who inhabit it now were
born.
For instance, we find that in the year 1847 one Julian
Chavez sent the following communication to the honorable
Town Council of Los Angeles:
"It being one of the principal duties of any municipal
body when "it sees that an epidemic begins to attack the com-
munity, to enforce cleanliness, fumigation and similar
measures, I respectfully suggest that you instruct the Syndic
to spend three or four dollars in causing all the heads and
remains of cattle as well as dead animals that can be found,
to be gathered into a heap in the borders of the town and set
on fire at the hour of six in the evening to be thoroughly
consumed and the air purified. Also that you admonish the
people to keep their premises clean and sweep in front of
their houses and on no condition to throw any garbage, filth
or offal of the cattle they slaughter in the streets. Also that
the work on the zanja be pushed to an early completion be-
cause our citizens who live further below are suffering greatly
for lack of water, which is also one of the causes why the
epidemic lasts so long. In making these recommendations, I
beg of you to give them your immediate consideration."
From one of the annual reports of Dr. L. M. Powers, for
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 289
many years the efficient and well-beloved health officer, we
gather some intensely interesting facts. For instance, it is
learned that in the year 1850 police regulations were promul-
gated which declared it "the duty of the police to attend to
everything touching the comfort, health and adornment of
the city." And the following two important articles:
"Article 6. On Saturdays every householder shall clean
the front of his premises up to the middle of the street, or for
the space of at least eight varas.
"Article 7. No filth shall be thrown into zanjas, carrying
water for common use, nor into the streets of the City."
From the same report we find the medicine men doing
their best to help the city to keep clean and healthy as it
gradually assumed the dignity of a city through the slow
and happy growth of the years.
In 1853, the City Council passed an ordinance concerning
the making of bread, requiring the use of good and wholesome
flour, and uniform size of loaves.
In 1855 the Common Council passed an ordinance regu-
lating the conduction of a city slaughter house or corral and
requiring a monthly fee or rental for the use of the same and
the disposal of the offal in such a manner as not to be
offensive. Also created the office of stock and meat inspector,
who was to give bond of $500 and to receive fees for inspect-
ing stock as follows. For meat cattle, 50 cents per head, and
for sheep, goats and hogs, each 75 cents.
In 1868, when the County Hospital was only in name and
the Sisters of Charity were paid per capita for the care of
the indigent sick, and the police force consisted of the town
marshal and one policeman, and the board of health, the
mayor and two councilmen, appointed by the president of
the Council, an epidemic of smallpox occurred and Dr. H. S.
Orme was appointed health officer at a salary of $10 per day
to care for smallpox patients and look after the sanitary con-
ditions of the city.
In July, 1868, the main building now existing in Chavez
Ravine and known as the pest house was built jointly by the
city and county, for a smallpox hospital. Smallpox was quite
prevalent ; many cases occurred among the Indians who were
290 • LOS ANGELES
employed to pick grapes in the city and vicinity. These In-
dians when first attacked with the fever would often plunge
into the zanja or river, and then lie around the banks until
they were picked up in a critical condition or perhaps dead.
The mortality during the epidemic was great. The Sisters
of Charity, with self-sacrifice and regardless of their health,
rendered most faithful and efficient service during this epi-
demic. Vaccination was enforced as thoroughly as possible
and the disease was ere long eradicated.
It seems from 1869 that Drs. Pigne, Dupuytren, T. C. Gale,
and J. H. McKee served as health officers at different times.
Dr. J. H. McKee was elected health officer on June 25, Octo-
ber 15, and again December 31, 1874.
In April, 1873, the City Council passed an ordinance creat-
ing the board of health, to consist of the mayor, president of
the Council and two members of the Council to be appointed
by the president of the Council. The salary of the health
officer was $50 per month, and he was to be appointed by the
board of health, subject to the approval of the City Council.
In 1874 the City Council passed an extensive sanitary ordi-
nance providing for free vaccination, reports of births, deaths
and contagious diseases, etc., and another resolution regu-
lating the prevention of nuisances and providing for the public
health, etc., including a section prohibiting the sale of adul-
terated milk.
In 1876 the Council passed a resolution fixing the health
officer's salary at $75 per month. In 1877 the Council passed
an ordinance repealing ordinances of July, 1873 and August,
1874, pertaining to the creation of the board of health and
prescribing the duties of the health officer, etc.
In 1877 a report was made to the Council that one Mrs.
Dominguez had broken quarantine because of the want of
food. The Council authorized the health officer to supply food
to families in quarantine for smallpox.
Again, in 1878, the Common Council passed a resolution
relating to the health of the City of Los Angeles, to prevent
the spread of contagious diseases by providing quarantine
regTilations for the incoming trains, etc.
On January 2, 1879, Dr. Walter Lindley was elected health
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 291
officer; at that time there was no board of health and the City
Council elected the health officer. Dr. Lindley inaugurated
the system of free vaccination of children attending the
public schools and succeeded in securing the passage of an
ordinance prohibiting the handling of swill and garbage
through the streets between the hours of 9 A. M. and 5 P. M.
He established the system of registering births and deaths,
and secured a sewer system for the main streets; he also
made an annual report of the transactions of the office.
Doctor Lindley 's report made November 13, 1879, for the ten
months previous to November 1, 1879, shows estimated popu-
lation to be 16,000, number of births 223, and number of
deaths 175, including still births.
As late as the year 1897 we still find some situations that
were no doubt serious enough at the time, but which appear
laughable now. Here is one of them :
It was decided to have the meat and milk of the city sys-
tematically inspected. During the first eight months, after
the decision was put into force, much of the time was con-
sumed in settling the question as to who had the right to the
appointment of the sanitary inspectors, the Board of Health
or the City Council. For three months, pending the decision
of the court, we had two sets of inspectors calling at the office
every morning, and there was also much trouble in securing
the proper control of the street sweeping. During the fall a
new inspector was appointed for street sweeping. The meat
and milk inspector and a practical butcher was appointed
meat inspector, thereby creating two offices.
It is a well-agreed-to fact that history is a thing that can
be written only in restrospect. Men and events of our own
time are too near to us to be judged. And this is one reason
why, in this book, no attempt at detail is made concerning the
status of medicine in Los Angeles at the present day.
It is enough to say that in no city of the world can the
profession of medicine be found standing on a higher plane
than it stands in Los Angeles. Nowhere in the world can
physicians and surgeons be found more devoted to their pro-
fession, more skilled in its science or more faithful to the
trust reposed in them. Not only have we, in the product of
292 LOS ANGELES
our own schools at home, medical men of the highest class,
but we have also the products of the best schools in other
parts of the world who honor and benefit Los Angeles by their
presence among us.
Los Angeles has hospitals as splendidly equipped for
service as any other city has, and its institutions of this nature
keep pace with the best and latest thought of the scientific
world.
And it is well that all this is so, for while it is true that
owing to favored climatic conditions, there would not ordi-
narily be here the same great need of the physician and the
surgeon that exists in less kindly climes, we are to remember
that all the roads of the earth and the pathways of the seas
bear to our doors the sick, whose hope of recovery lies in
California.
And even with all this, the death rate here is less perhaps
than it is in any other city of equal size. For this happy con-
dition we have to thank both the doctors and the climate.
CHAPTER XV
RELIGION AND THE CHURCHES
We have seen heretofore in this book that as a community
requiring a civic and political government, Los Angeles was
created under extraordinary circumstances, namely, "by
order of the king." That is to say, Los Angeles was polit-
ically foreordained, because of the fact that it was founded
and established by the royal edict of the King of Spain.
We are now to see that spiritually and in regard to the
care of the souls of the people who came to inhabit the new
city and to have their being there, Los Angeles became —
though it may be indirectly — the subject again of what might
be called Royal authority, for in those times the Pope of
Rome ranked with other kings and potentates.
Now, as we have related, Los Angeles at the beginning of
its career was looked after spiritually by the padres of San
Gabriel and other nearby missions in such measure as the
time and abilities of these padres permitted. We learn that
in the year 1784, three years after the Pueblo of Los Angeles
was founded, and continuing until the year 1812, there was
a chapel on Buena Vista Street where a Franciscan friar
from San Gabriel held religious services, saying mass every
Sunday and on Holy days for the accommodation of the
settlers and their families. Then, between the years 1812
and 1815, the present old church still standing on the Plaza
was built and placed under the pastorage of Father Bias Raho.
But during all this time Los Angeles and all California were
merely a part of the spiritual territory of Mexico, and spe-
cifically a part of the diocese of Sonora.
But as California continued to grow in population, the
Mexican Congress petitioned Rome to separate Lower and
Upper California into a separate diocese. In those days in
Catholic countries, and in other countries as well, church and
293
PROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 295
state went hand in hand. Mexico acknowledged itself to be
a Catholic country, subject in all spiritual matters to the Pope.
In response to the petition of the Mexican Congress,
Gregory XVI, then Pope of Rome, issued the famous bull
creating the Diocese of California, of which Los Angeles was
a part. The document is important and of great historical
value, and since it gives us the real beginning of church gov-
ernment here, we feel it our duty to set it forth in full. It
is as follows:
"Gregory, Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God,
For a Perpetual Memorial.
"1. The Apostolic solicitude which We feel for all the
Churches should, as is evident, not only never be weakened
or diminished by distances or the remoteness of the faithful,
but should for that very reason rather be augmented and
inflamed. Since, therefore, access to this Center of Catholic
unity is rendered too difficult for the most remote of Our
flock and We are not able, on account of the distance and the
natural condition of the territory, to refresh them with fre-
quent admonitions, counsels, exhortations, and, in fine, by
spiritual aids of whatever kind, or to heal their wounds
promptly, We do as does an affectionate mother far distant
from her children: she assuredly loves them with the more
ardor the more she sees herself unable to lavish upon her
absent ones all the services of a special love.
"Hence, not only do We daily pray for the most bountiful
of celestial blessings to fall upon this part of the flock which
We ever have in mind, but We also leave nothing undone
which may in any way contribute to the spiritual welfare of
the same. While We were assiduously revolving these mat-
ters in Our mind, those composing the Government of Mexico
in North America humbly supplicated that We by Apostolic
Authority separate California from the Diocese of Sonora
within the same Mexican boundaries, erect there an episcopal
see to be called the See of California, and give it a Bishop
of its own.
"Although the beginning of the Diocese of Sonora is not
to be sought previous to the year 1779, and itself was formed
296 LOS ANGELES
of parts from the Dioceses of Guadalajara and Durango,
nevertheless that territory was soon extended so widely that
it not only embraces the vast provinces of Sonora, Ostimuri
and Sinaloa, but the whole immense California besides. The
last named, however, which is said to exceed seven hundred
leagues, is divided into Old and New California. The former
includes the Peninsula of California which the ancient writers
on natural affairs believed to be an island. The latter, how-
ever, is joined to Old California by a wild tract of land.
Both, at present, constitute one of the Mexican provinces.
If the mind considers the great roughness of the roads, the
rapid currents of the rivers, which, at times, it is impossible
to cross, and moreover the immense mountain chains, which
are inhabited by barbarians, it will be apparent that the
Bishop of Sonora is by these causes hindered from governing
and moderating with necessary effectiveness the flock en-
trusted to his care, from visiting his whole diocese, and from
devoting himself entirely to the conversion of those whom,
for lacking the light of the Gospel, We bitterly mourn as
wrapped in the densest darkness of error. This worst of all
evils both Old and New California is suffering in a peculiar
degree ; for although missionaries of the Orders of St. Dom-
inic and St. Francis have spiritual charge of these provinces,
yet each is situated in the farthest part of the Diocese of
Sonora, and therefore not assisted by the presence of a Pastor,
who, powerful in word and deed, might edify the people by
his speech and example, correct what is depraved, consolidate
what is disrupted, strengthen those weak in Faith, and en-
lighten the ignorant.
"2. These and other good reasons adduced by the Gov-
ernment of Mexico through its embassador to the Apostolic
See have been presented to Us with such force that, after
having considered every thing with mature deliberation, and
having observed the great advantage of it, We most willingly
accede to the petitions offered. Therefore, with certain
knowledge of the matter, in the plenitude of Apostolic Power,
and also from Our own initiative, supplying the consent of
Our Venerable Brother Lazaro de Garza, now Bishop of
Sonora, and of others who may be concerned, We forever take
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 297
away, detach, sever and separate whole California, namely
the Old as well as the New California, together with all and
every one of the parishes, churches, convents and monas-
teries, and all secular and regular benefices of whatever kind
existing there, likewise all persons of both sexes, dwellers and
inhabitants, the laity as well as clergy, priests, beneficiaries
and the religious of whatever grade, status, order or condition
staying there, from the Diocese of Sonora to which they be-
longed. Moreover, the City of San Diego in new California,
situated in the center of California and regarded as more
suitable than other places, We establish and institute as
episcopal city with its court and ecclesiastical chancery and
all and each of the honors, rights, privileges and prerogatives
used and enjoyed by the cities and citizens honored by an
episcopal see in the Mexican dominion.
"3. We command that the principal church in the said
territory of San Diego be raised and elevated to the honor
and dignity of a cathedral church, and therein likewise We
command to have erected and established in perpetuity the
see and episcopal seat of the one henceforth to be called the
Bishop of California, who is to preside over the same church,
city and diocese to be designated presently, and over its
clergy, to convoke the synod, to have and exercise all and
every episcopal right, office and duty, and to have his chapter,
seal, archives, and the income to be presently laid down, and
all other episcopal insignia, rights, honors, precedence, graces,
favors, indults, jurisdiction and prerogatives which the other
cathedrals in the Mexican dominion and their Bishops enjoy,
provided that they are not granted them by special indult or
privilege.
"4. To the California cathedral church, thus erected and
to its Bishop, We adjudge and assign as its own diocese
hereafter the entire Old and New California, as above cut
off and separated from the Diocese of Sonora, to be the dio-
cese of the New California bishopric, and this California,
thus allotted and assigned, and in it the existing parishes,
churches, convents, monasteries, and all other secular and
regular benefices of whatever Order, the persons of either
sex, the inhabitants, clergy as well as laity, but not those
298 LOS ANGELES
exempt, of whatever class. We likewise subject in perpetuity
to the jurisdiction, rule, power, and authority of the new
Bishop of the California Diocese, and to him We assign and
allot them as his city, territory, diocese, clergy and people,
likewise in perpetuity.
"5. In order, however, that the future Bishop of Cali-
fornia during his lifetime may live in a manner becoming his
dignity, and may properly provide for the vicat-general and
episcopal court, We ascribe and assign as episcopal income
the Fund of the real estate which the Mexican Government in
accordance with its promise will set apart.
"6. With regard to the property of the new California
cathedral church, We likewise ascribe and adjudge as an in-
come for its maintenance in perpetuity the Fund which the
same Government promised to surrender. We ordain that as
soon as possible there be assigned and given suitable buildings
for the habitation of the future Bishop and the dwelling of
his episcopal court as near to the cathedral as possible; if
they are wanting and must be rented, We decree that arrange-
ments be made for defraying such expenses.
"7. As to the forming of a chapter at the cathedral
church, and its endowment with similar means from the
Fund, as also the construction and endowment of a seminary
for ecclesiastical students, the aforesaid Government, as soon
as the circumstances of time and places permit, will supply
what is usually furnished to other cathedral chapters and
ecclesiastical seminaries in the Mexican dominion.
"8. We command that the said California Church thus
constituted shall be of right subject to the Metropolitan
Archbishop of Mexico, and We direct that it shall enjoy all
the faculties, exemptions and rights which belong to other
suffragans of the Metropolitan Mexican Church.
"9. We order that the revenue of the same new Diocese
of California shall be taxed as customary for thirty-three
and one-third florins, and that this tax shall be noted in the
books of the Apostolic Treasury and Sacred College.
' ' 10. In order that everything above arranged by Us take
effect, We bestow upon Our Venerable brother Emanuel
Posada y Carduno, Archbishop of the Metropolitan Mexican
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 299
Church, whom We choose and depute as the executor of these
Our Letters, all the necessary and expedient faculties for
self, or by means of another person clothed with ecclesiastical
dignity to be subdelegated by him, may ordain and decree,
and also with the faculty of the same executor or his delegate,
definitely, freely and lawfully pronounce upon any obstacle
whatever which might perhaps arise in the act of execution.
He shall also have the duty of carefully describing in the
executive decree the boundaries, especially of New California,
and of transmitting to the Apostolic See, within six months
after the carrying out of the Apostolic Letters, a copy, drawn
up in authentic form, of all decrees he may publish in the
execution of these Letters, in order that it may be preserved
in the records of the Congregation presiding over Consistorial
Affairs.
"11. We will and determine that these Letters, and what-
ever they contain, be at no time whatever impugned or called
into question, or charged with the defect of subreption, or
obreption or nullity, or lack of intention on Our part, or any
other even substantial defect, not even for the reason that any
persons concerned or claiming to be concerned have not been
notified or given a hearing or have not consented to the fore-
going; for from the fuiness of Apostolic Power We supply,
as far as necessary, their consent, and We will that these
Letters always and ever exist and be valid and in force, and
obtain and have their full and entire effect, and be inviolably
observed by all whom they concern.
''12. We thus determine notwithstanding the Regulations
about not taking away what is of right demanded, about sup-
pressions committed against parties concerned, and other
Rules of Our Own or of the Apostolic Chancery, or Apostolic
Mandates issued in Synods or Councils, particular or general,
or whatever other Ordinances of Our Predecessors, the Ro-
man Pontiffs, or whatever else to the contrary.
"13. We determine, moreover, that the copies of these
Letters, even the printed ones, signed, however, by a notary
public, and provided with the seal of a person clothed with
ecclesiastical dignity, shall, on being exhibited or shown, re-
ceive absolutely the same credit.
300 LOS ANGELES
"14. No one whosoever, therefore, shall be permitted to
infringe these Our Letters of dismemberment, segregation,
separation, erection, establishing, assignment, allotment, sub-
jection, concession, indult, decree, derogation and will, or dare
temerariously to contradict. If any one, however, shall pre-
sume to attempt this, let him know that he incurs the indigna-
tion of God Almighty and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and
Paul.
"Given in Eome at St. Peter's in the year of the Incarna-
tion of the Lord 1810, on the 27th day of April, in the tenth
Year of Our Pontificate."
The Pope, under the same date, issued another bull, which
was addressed to the clergy of the new diocese, the text of
which is as follows: "Gregory, Bishop, Servant of the Serv-
ants of God, to the Beloved Sons, the Clergy of the Territory
and Diocese of the Californias, Health and Apostolic Benedic-
tion. — As the Church of the Californias today lacks the con-
solation of having a Pastor, We have provided one in the
person of Our beloved son Francisco Garcia Diego, professed
member of the Order of St. Francis, chosen for said Church,
a person who for his merits is acceptable to Us and to Our
Venerable Brothers, the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church.
With the advice therefore, of the same Cardinals, Our
Brothers, and in virtue of Our Apostolic Authority, We name
him Bishop and Pastor, and commit to him the care, govern-
ment, and administration of the Church in the Californias,
both in spiritual and temporal matters, as is more fully con-
tained in Our Letters erecting the Diocese. We therefore
command by this Our Letter that you cheerfully accept the
said Francisco as Father and Pastor of your souls, show him
due obedience and reverence, receive with humility his salu-
tary admonitions and commands, and endeavor to comply
with them sincerely. Otherwise, the sentence which the same
Francisco may pronounce against the rebellious, we shall
regard as just, and shall see that it is observed inviolably
until condign satisfaction is made. Given at St. Peter, Rome,
in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1840, on the 27th
clay of April, in the tenth year of Our Pontificate."
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 301
The new bishop, Garcia Diego, acting under the authority
of the above bull of Pope Gregory, arrived in the harbor of
San Diego the night of December 10, 1841, on the good ship
Rosalind, Capt. Henry John Crouch, with his entourage,
promptly announcing his arrival to Governor Alvarado. Two
days afterward, the first Bishop of California addressed the
following note to the Superior of the Franciscan Friars at
Zacatecas :
"San Diego, December 12, 18,41. My Son, Brother, and
most beloved Father. — Yesterday I reached this insignificant
town in good and sound health, thanks be to God! You
have me here now at your service.
"I brought with me two priests of our College, and think
that one of them will, as soon as possible, proceed to your
mission to take your place, in order that you may come to
serve me as secretary and confessor. I have already spoken
to the Fr. Guardian about this and he has consented. You
may notify the Fathers when you come in order that they
may address you wherever you may be when they have any
business with you.
"The ex-donado, Gomez, arrived with me as sub-deacon.
There also came along three other students, of whom two will
soon be ordained. Two boys are also in the company. With
them I shall start my seminary. I could not obtain more for
reasons which I shall tell you when we meet. Do not fail to
write to me as often as you can, etc. [Signed] Fr. Fran-
cisco, Bishop of the Calif ornias."
"Insignificant" though San Diego appears to have been
at that time, apparently the people that composed its popula-
tion had the desire to be good Christians. One hundred and
twenty-five of them presented themselves to the new bishop
for confirmation in the chapel of the presidio. According to
the records of the missions as set forth in the monumental
and priceless work "Missions and Missionaries of Cali-
fornia," by Fray Zephyrin Engelhardt, of the Orders of
Friars Minor, at Santa Barbara, the sponsors at this historic
celebration were no less personages than Pio Pico, Francisco
Maria Alvarado, Jose Antonio Estudillo and Manuel Verdugo.
302 LOS ANGELES
If you are looking for a quartette of great Calif ornian names,
there you have it.
Since San Diego is now one of the great cities of the
world, its battles fought and its victories won, it will be
surely no harm to admit that it really was an "insignificant"
town four score years ago. According to Fray Zephyrin,
Bishop Diego soon reached the conviction that— and notwith-
standing that the town bore the bishop's saint's name — it
was "with its fewer than 150 inhabitants, its wretched habita-
tions and its lack of resources, unfit to be the center of a vast
diocese."
Accordingly, the bishop set forth for Santa Barbara, to
take up his Episcopal residence there. He sailed away from
the Harbor of the Sun in a ship owned by Don Jose Antonio
Aguirre, master and owner of many ships, whose bride was
Rosario, a daughter of the Estudillos. News had been sent
ahead to Santa Barbara that his lordship was on his way to
that famous port. And the news caused great joy there, says
Fray Zephyrin.
Robinson, a historian to whom we are indebted for much
priceless knowledge of early California, was a witness of the
reception of the bishop to Santa Barbara, which he describes
as follows:
"The vessel was in sight on the morning of the 11th of
January, 1842, but lay becalmed and rolling to the ocean's
swell. A boat put off from her side, and approached the
landing-place. One of the attendants of his Excellency who
came in it, repaired to the Mission, to communicate with the
Father Presidente. All was bustle ; men, women, and children
hastening to the beach, banners flying, drums beating, and
soldiers marching. The whole population of the place turned
out, to pay homage to this first Bishop of California. At
eleven o'clock the vessel anchored. He came on shore, and
was welcomed by the kneeling multitude. All received his
benediction — all kissed the pontifical ring. The troops, and
civic authorities, then escorted him to the house of Don Jose
Antonio, where he dined. A carriage had been prepared for
his Excellency, which was accompanied by several others,
occupied by the Presidente and his friends. The females had
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 303
formed, with ornamental canes, beautiful arches, through
which the procession passed, and as it marched along, the
heavy artillery of the presidio continued to thunder forth its
noisy welcome. At the time he left the barque she was en-
veloped in smoke, and the distant report of her guns, was
heard echoing among the hills in our rear. At four o'clock,
the Bishop was escorted to the Mission, and, when a short
distance from the town, the enthusiastic inhabitants took the
horses from his carriage and dragged it themselves. Halting
at the small bower, on the road, he alighted, went into it, and
put on his pontifical robes ; then returning to the carriage, he
continued on, amidst the sound of music and the firing of
guns, till he arrived at the church, where he addressed the
multitude that followed him."
It does not appear that Bishop Diego had either any joy
out of Los Angeles, or any trouble with it, or that he even
came near it. The first bishop had a hard road to travel. He
could not raise money for the support of his administration.
And, after all, Los Angeles was the great thorn in his side
for the reason that it was here that Pio Pico had his head-
quarters as governor and conspirator as well.
It was from Los Angeles that Pio Pico directed his cam-
paign for the secularization of the missions, which really
meant the destruction of the missions. And it was from here
that he sent his polite but heart-breaking messages to Bishop
Diego — messages couched in diplomatic language but deadly
in their real intent, Under the strain of his troubles, this
faithful first bishop of the Californias sickened and died and
went to his reward.
One of the things that troubled and distressed a great deal
the authorities of the Catholic Church at this time was the
marriage of Protestants and Catholics, which was against the
laws of Mexico and the church. But nearly all of the prom-
inent citizens of Los Angeles who were of American or Eng-
lish birth, and not Catholics, married the women of the coun-
try and joined their creed. "Americans and English who in-
tend to reside here became Papist, — the current phrase among
them being, 'A man must leave his conscience at Cape Horn,' "
said Dana in his "Two Years Before the Mast."
304 LOS ANGELES
But there were still marriages taking place without the
sanction of the church, and when the padres complained about
it to the American authorities in 1847, just as tne Americans
had got their hands on California, it is interesting to note the
view that the American military authorities took of these
marriages. The following highly diplomatic letter written by
Col. E. B. Mason, military governor of the territory of Cal-
ifornia, to a justice of the peace who had performed the mar-
riage ceremony for a Protestant man and a Catholic woman,
will prove interesting. The letter was as follows :
"Sir: I desire that, during the existing state of affairs
in California, you will not perform the marriage ceremony
in any case where either of the parties are members of the
Catholic Church of this country.
"lam induced to give these instructions from the fact that
the United States Government are exceedingly desirous, and
indeed make it obligatory upon their authorities here, to se-
cure to the Californians the full enjoyment of their religion
and security in all their churches and church privileges.
"As their canonical laws, and I believe their civil laws
also, prohibit any but their own priests from uniting members
of their Church in marriage, it is not proper that we should
break in upon those laws, or customs, as the case may be, and
particularly it is the wish of the President that when the coun-
try is subjected to our laws the people may be as favorably
disposed toward our government as possible.
"It is therefore good policy for us to abstain from doing
anything that will have a tendency to give them offense in
matters wherein it may be thought their relations or Church
privileges are encroached upon. I am, respectfully, your obe-
dient servant, B. B. Mason, Colonel 1st Dragoons, Governor of
California."
Colonel Mason proved to be the right man in the right
place during the crisis that existed between the end of Mex-
ican rule and the beginning of American rule in California.
The Catholics were pleased with his actions, and the few
Protestants then in the territory were not offended by any-
thing that he did.
The next bishop of California was Jose Sadoc Alemany,
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 305
a Dominican. And California — our present, of Alta Califor-
nia — was at the same time erected into a separate and distinct
diocese and separated entirely from Lower California. Bishop
Alemany took up his Episcopal residence at Santa Barbara.
Then, in 1853, he was made an archbishop with his Metropol-
itan see in San Francisco. Then a new diocese, including
Los Angeles, and called the Diocese of Monterey, was erected,
with Thaddeus Amat of Barcelona, a Vincentian, as bishop.
Bishop Amat selected Monterey as his Episcopal residence.
Later he removed to Santa Barbara, and, according to Fray
Zephyrin, he made the old mission church there a pro-cathe-
dral. He finally, however, came to Los Angeles, where he laid
the cornerstone of the Cathedral of St. Vibiana, the present
cathedral, on October 3, 1869.
Since then there have been four bishops in succession,
namely, Francisco Mora, George Montgomery, Thomas James
Conaty and the present bishop, John Joseph Cantwell. Los
Angeles became the See of the bishop with Mora, and still
remains so.
There are today in the City of Los Angeles thirty or more
Catholic churches and numbers of parochial schools and con-
vents, and a Jesuit college, with the number of them all con-
stantly increasing. And the old first church, built on the
Plaza, is still standing and is attended every Sunday morning
by thousands of devout worshipers.
We feel that we would rob our readers if we failed to re-
produce here from the writings of the late Professor Guinn
the following colorful references to the old Plaza Church,
which Professor Guinn wrote some years ago in his book on
California, after long residence here and much patient and
painstaking investigation into ancient and dusty records :
"The first church or chapel built in Los Angeles," says
Guinn, "stood at the foot of the hill, near what is now the
Southeast corner of Buena Vista Street and Bellevue Ave-
nue. It was an adobe structure about 18x24 feet in size, and
was completed in 1784. In 1811 the citizens obtained permis-
sion to build a new church — the primitive chapel had become
too small to accommodate the increasing population of the
pueblo and its vicinity.
306 LOS ANGELES
"The corner stone of the new church was laid and blessed
August 15, 1814, by Father Gil, of the Mission San Gabriel.
Just where it was placed is uncertain. It is probable that it
was on the eastern side of the old Plaza. In 1818 it was
moved to higher ground — its present site. The great flood of
1815, when the waters of the river came up to the lower side
of the old Plaza, probably necessitated the change. When the
foundation was laid a second time the citizens subscribed 500
cattle. In 1819 the friars of the San Gabriel Mission contrib-
uted seven barrels of brandy to the building fund worth $575.
This donation, with the previous contribution of cattle, was
sufficient to raise the walls to the window arches by 1821.
There it came to full stop. The Pueblo colonists were poor in
purse and chaiy of exertion. They were more willing to wait
than to labor. Indeed, they seem to have performed but little
of the labor. The neophytes of San Gabriel and San Luis Rey
did the most of the work and were paid a real (twelve and a
half cents) a day each. Jose Antonio Ramerez was the archi-
tect. When the colonists' means were exhausted the Missions
were appealed to for aid. They responded to the appeal.
"The contributions to the building fund were various in
kind and somewhat incongruous in character. The Mission
San Miguel contributed 500 cattle, San Luis Obispo 200, Santa
Barbara one barrel of brandy, San Diego two barrels of
white wine, Purisima six mules and 200 cattle, San Gabriel
two barrels of brandy and San Fernando one. Work was be-
gun again on the church and pushed to completion. A house
for the curate was also built. It was an adobe structure and
stood near the northwest corner of the church. The church
was completed and formally dedicated December 8, 1822 — ■
eight years after the laying of the first corner stone.
"Captain de La Guerra was chosen by the ayuntamiento
padrino or godfather. San Gabriel Mission loaned a bell for
the occasion. The fiesta of Our Lady of the Angels had been
postponed so that the dedication and the celebration could be
held at the same time. Cannon boomed on the Plaza and
salvos of musketry intoned the services.
"The present building and its surroundings bear but lit-
tle resemblance to the 'Nueva Iglesia' (new church) that
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 307
Padre Payeras labored so earnestly to complete eighty-five
years ago. It then had no floor but the beaten earth, and no
seats. The worshipers sat or knelt on the bare ground or on
cushions they brought with them. There was no distinction
between the poor and the rich at first, but as time passed and
the Indians degenerated, or the citizens became more aristo-
cratic, a petition was presented to the ayuntamiento to pro-
vide a separate place of worship for the Indians.
"At the session of the ayuntamiento, June 19, 1839, the
president stated 'that he had been informed by Jose M. Na-
varro, who serves as sexton, that the baptistry of the church is
almost in ruins on account of a leaking roof. ' It was ordered
that 'Sunday next the alcaldes of the Indians shall meet and
bring together the Indians without a boss, so that no one will
be inconvenienced by the loss of labor of his Indians, and place
them to work thereon, using some posts and brea now at the
guardhouse, the regidor on weekly duty to have charge of the
work.' "
In the sindico's account book is this entry: "Guillermo
Money owes the city funds out of the labor of the prisoners,
loaned him for the church, $126." As the prisoners' labor
was valued at a real (twelve and a half cents) a day it must
have required considerable repairing to amount to $126.
In 1861 the church building was remodeled, the faithful
of the parish bearing the expense. The front wall, which had
been damaged by the rains, was taken down and rebuilt of
brick instead of adobe. The flat roof was changed to a shin-
gled one, and the tower altered. The grounds were inclosed
and planted with trees and flowers. The old adobe parish
house built in 1822, with the additions made to it, later was
torn down and the present brick, structure erected.
The church has a seating capacity of 500. It is the oldest
parish church on the Pacific coast of the United States and is
the only building now in use that was built in the Spanish era
of our city's history.
For a period of seventy years after the founding of the
pueblo of Los Angeles, the voice of no Christian preacher save
that of a Roman Catholic priest was ever heard within its
confines. It was in June, 1850, that Rev. J. W. Brier, a Meth-
308 LOS ANGELES
odist minister, conducted the first Protestant service known to
have been held in Los Angeles.
And, off and on for several years afterwards, it seems
that spasmodic but futile efforts were made here by various
Protestant denominations to obtain footings. We find a
Protestant minister, Rev. T. M. Davis, quitting the Los An-
geles field in disgust in 1856, and returning to his home in
tbe East. Anent this occasion we find the editor of the Los
Angeles "Star" giving vent to the following utterance in the
columns of his paper :
"The Protestant portion of the American population are
now without the privilege of assembling together to worship
God under direction of one of his ministers. The state of
society here is truly deplorable. To preach week after week
to empty benches is certainly not encouraging, but if in addi-
tion to that, a minister has to contend against a torrent of
vice and immorality which obliterates all traces of the Chris-
tian Sabbath — to be compelled to endure blasphemous denun-
ciations of his Divine Master ; to live where society is disor-
ganized, religion scoffed at, where violence runs riot, and even
life itself is unsafe — such a condition of affairs may suit some
men, but it is not calculated for the peaceful labors of one who
follows unobtrusively the footsteps of the meek and lowly
Savior. ' '
There is every evidence, however, that tbe Protestants of
Los Angeles in that far-off day did not lose spirit or courage,
and that in a couple of years after the departure of Mr. Davis
they determined to arrange matters so that they might wor-
ship God according to their own consciences and in accordance
also with their traditions and early teachings.
So it is that in the year 1859 we find members of various
Protestant denominations meeting on common ground and
perfecting an organization. In May of that year an organiza-
tion was formed. Its title was the
First Protestant Society of the City of Los Angeles,
California
At the first meeting the following preamble and constitu-
tion were promulgated and agreed upon:
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 309
Constitution
Article 1. Our style and title shall be ' ' the First Protest-
ant Society of the City of Los Angeles."
2nd. Our officers shall be a Board of Trustees, five in num-
ber, three of whom shall constitute a quorum, to be elected
annually, and report at the end of each year. One of their
own number shall be selected by themselves to be the Presi-
dent of the Society, and another as Secretary and Treasurer.
3rd. An annual meeting duly called and publicly notified by
the Board, shall be held on the first Wednesday of May in each
yea<-, or if that day shall be allowed to pass without a meet-
ing, r hen, as soon after as notice can be duly given, for the
purpose of hearing the annual report of the Board and hold-
ing the annual election. Any vacancy occurring in the Board
during the year may be filled ad interim by the selection of
some one by the Board itself.
4th. Money may be collected for the society by such per-
sons only as the Board shall appoint. And the Treasurer may
pay out money for the Society only upon the written order of
the Board, signed by the President.
5th. The condition of membership in the society is sim-
ply the signing of this constitution. And the duty of each
member shall be to aid in all suitable ways in securing the
present maintenance and permanent establishment and suc-
cessful progress of Protestant worship in this city.
Adopted this fourth day of May, A. D. 1859.
Isaac S. K. Ogier,
Wm. McKee,
A. J. King,
C. Sims,
Charles S. Adams,
Wm. S. Morrow,
D. McLaren,
Thos. Foster,
Wm. H. Shore,
' N. A. Potter,
J. E. Gitchell.
310 LOS ANGELES
The constitution having been signed by those present, the
Society proceeded to nominate and elect its officers for the
ensuing year, whereupon the Hon. I. S. K. Ogier, Hon. B. D.
Wilson, J. R. Gitchell, N. A. Potter and Wm. McKee were
unanimously chosen trustees. On motion it was
Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be pub-
lished in the newspapers of this city.
On motion, the Society adjourned.
W. E. Boardmax, Chairman.
Wm. H. Shore, Secretary.
Concerning the early struggles and progress of the Protest-
ant denominations in Los Angeles Professor Guinn has made
the following record:
Presbyterian Churches. — As pioneers in the missionary
field of Los Angeles, the Methodists came first and the Presby-
terians second. The Rev. James Woods held the first Pres-
byterian service in November, 1854, in a little carpenter shop
that stood on part of the site now occupied by the Pico house.
The first organization of a Presbyterian church was effected
March, 1855, with twelve members. The Reverend Woods
held regular Sunday services in the old court house, north-
west corner of North Spring and Franklin streets, during the
fall of 1854 and part of the year 1855. He organized a church
and also a Sunday school. He was succeeded by the Rev. T. N.
Davis, who continued regular services until August, 1856,
when he abandoned the field in disgust and returned to his
home in the East.
The next Presbyterian minister to locate in Los Angeles
was the Rev. W- C. Harding, who came in 1869. He abandoned
the field in 1871. The Rev. F. A. White, LL. D., came in 1875.
He was succeeded by the Rev. F. M. Cunningham, and he by
the Rev. J. W. Ellis. Under the ministry of Mr. Ellis in
1882-83 a church was erected on the southeast corner of Broad-
way and Second Street. The building and lot cost about
$20,000. Services were held in it until March, 1895, when it
was sold for $55,000. The congregation divided into two or-
ganizations, the First Presbyterian and the Central Presby-
terian. The First Presbyterian built a church on Figueroa
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 311
and Twentieth streets. The Central Presbyterian secured a
site on the east side of Hill Street, between Second and Third
streets, with a dwelling house upon it which tbey enlarged and
remodeled and used for a church.
Protestant Episcopal, Churches. — The first Protestant
Episcopal Church service held in Los Angeles was conducted
by Dr. Mathew Carter. An item in the Weekly Star of May
9, 1857, states that "Dr. Carter announces that he has been
licensed and authorized by the Right Rev. W. Ingraham Kip,
Bishop of California, to act as lay reader for the Southern
District." He held regular services for a time in Mechanics'
Institute Hall, which was in a sheet iron building near the
corner of Court and North Spring streets. In October, 1857,
St. Luke's Parish was organized, and the following named
gentlemen elected a board of trustees : Dr. T. J. White, Dr.
Mathew Carter and William Shore. A building was rented
on Main Street, near Second, where services were held every
Sunday, Doctor Carter officiating. Services seem to have been
discontinued about the close of the year 1857, and the church
was dissolved. On January 1, 1865, the Rev. Elias Birdsall,
a missionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, preached
his first sermon in Odd Fellows' Hall, Downey Block. The
Protestant Society, which had begun the erection of a church
building in 1859 under the ministration of Rev. William E.
Boardman, a Presbyterian minister, as has been previously
stated, offered the unfinished building to the Reverend Bird-
sall for services. He assented to this on condition that it be
transferred to the Episcopalians. Those who had contributed
toward its erection consented, and the transfer was made.
The edifice was completed and named St. Athanasius Church,
and the Episcopalians continued to worship in this building
until Christmas, 1883 ; in the meantime the property was sold
to the county for a courthouse site. A site for a new church
was purchased on Olive Street, between Fifth and Sixth
streets, where a handsome building was erected. In 1884 the
name of the organization was changed to St. Paul's Church,
the name it still bears.
Congregational Churches. — The first Congregational
minister to locate in Los Angeles was the Rev. Alexander
312 LOS ANGELES
Parker, a Scotchman by birth and a graduate of Oberlin Col-
lege and Theological Seminary. He had served in the Union
army as a member of the famous student company of Oberlin
College — a company whose membership was largely made up
of theological students.
He preached his first sermon bere July 7, 1866, in the court
house. A church was organized July 21, 1867, with six mem-
bers. A lot was purchased on New High Street, north of
Temple, where the Beaudry stone wall now stands, and a
movement began to raise funds to build a church. The effort
was successful. The following extract from the Los Angeles
Star gives an account of the dedication of the church :
' ' On Sunday morning last, June 28, 1868, the new Congre-
gational Church was opened for divine service at 11 A. M.
The Eev. E. C. Bissell, pastor of Green Street Church, San
Francisco, delivered the dedicatory sermon. At the close of
the sermon the Bev. Alexander Parker came forward and
gave an account of his stewardship in his exertions to raise
this house for the worship of God. The total cost was about
$3,000, of which $1,000 was obtained from San Francisco,
$1,000 partly as a loan and partly as a gift from churches in
the Atlantic states, and collections of small amounts at home,
leaving at present a debt of about $400 on the building, which,
though complete, is not yet quite furnished. The house is
small, but very neatly arranged; the pews are ample and
comfortable, and the building is lofty and well ventilated.
Its dimensions are 30x50 feet; it will seat 175 to 200 per-
sons."
Beverend Parker resigned in August, 1868. He was suc-
ceeded by the Bev. Isaac W. Atherton, who reorganized the
church November 29, 1868. Services were held in the little
church on New High Street until 1883, when, on May 3d of
that year, the church on the corner of Hill and Third streets
was completed and dedicated. The building, lot and organ
cost about $25,000. In May, 1888, this building was sold to
the Central Baptist Church, and a lot purchased on the south-
west corner of Hill and Sixth streets. On this a building was
erected in 1889. The cost of the lot, church building and
furnishing amounted to about $72,000, to which was added a
Young Men's Christian Association Building
314 LOS ANGELES
fine organ, at a cost of about $5,000. This church property
was sold in 1902 for $77,000, and a new site purchased on
Hope Street near the corner of Ninth, where a beautiful brick
and stone church costing $100,000 was completed in July,
1903.
Baptist Chukches. — The first sermon preached by a Bap-
tist minister in Los Angeles was delivered by Reverend Free-
man in 1853.
The first regular church services held in this city by a
Baptist minister were conducted by the Reverend Fryer in
schoolhouse No. 1, which stood on the northwest corner of
Spring and Second streets. The Reverend Fryer held services
every Sunday during the year 1860. He seems to have aban-
doned the field in the early part of 1861. I find no record of
any services by a minister of that church between 1861 and
1874.
The First Baptist Church of Los Angeles was organized
September 6, 1874, by Rev. William Hobbs. There were but
eight members in the organization. The services were held
in the old courthouse. Doctor Hobbs severed his connection
with the church in June, 1857. For fifteen months the church
was without a pastor. In September, 1876, Rev. Winfield
Scott took charge of it. He was succeeded in 1878 by the
Rev. I. N. Parker, and he by Rev. Henry Angel, who died
in 1879.
The church meetings were transferred from the court-
house to a hall owned by Doctor Zahn, on Spring Street be-
tween Fourth and Fifth streets. From there it moved to
Good Templars' Hall on North Main Street. The ordinance
of baptism was administered either in the river or in the
baptistery of the Christian Church on Temple Street.
For two years after the death of Doctor Angel the church
remained without a regular minister. In 1881 Rev. P. W.
Dorsey took charge of it. A lot was secured on the northeast
corner of Broadway and Sixth Street, and in March, 1884, a
church building was completed and dedicated. The building
and lots cost about $25,000. In the summer of 1897 the lot
and building were sold for $45,000, and with the addition of
$5,000 raised by subscription a larger and more commodious
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 315
building was erected on Flower Street, between Seventh and
Eighth streets.
Christian Churches.— The first sermon preached by a
member of the Christian denomination was delivered by
Eev. G. W. Linton in August, 1874, in the courtroom of the
old courthouse. In October and November of that year in-
quiries were made in the city for persons who had been con-
nected with the church in other places. Twenty-three were
found. Of these fifteen signified their willingness to unite in
forming a church. On the 26th of February, 1875, the first
church was organized. Rev. W. J. A. Smith was the first
preacher. He was succeeded by Rev. John C. Hay. The
Rev. B. F. Coulter filled the pulpit from 1881 to 1884. Dur-
ing his ministry, and largely through his contributions, the
First Church was built on Temple Street near Broadway,
where the Aberdeen lodge now stands. In 1894 it was sold
and a church edifice erected on the corner of Hope and Elev-
enth streets at a cost of $25,000, with Rev. A. C. Smithers as
pastor. In 1895 the Rev. B. F. Coulter erected the Broadway
Church of Christ on Broadway, near Temple, at a cost of
about $20,000.
Unitarian Churches. — The first religious services held
by the Unitarians were at the residence of T. E. Severance in
March, 1877. In May of that year an organization was per-
fected and regular services were conducted by the Rev. J. D.
Wells.
In 1885 the Rev. Eli Fay located in Los Angeles and con-
ducted services for a time in the Masonic Hall, 135 South
Spring Street. The church was reorganized and the services
were held in Child's Opera House on Main Street. A lot was
secured on Seventh Street near Broadway, and largely
through the liberality of Doctor Fay, a church building, 45x100
feet in area, was erected at a cost of $25,000. The church was
dedicated June 16, 1889. It was destroyed by fire in 1892.
The congregation then purchased from the Baptists the church
building on the northeast corner of Hill and Third streets,
originally built by the Congregationalists. This site was sold
for business purposes in 1899. The last sermon was preached
in it by the Rev. C. K. Jones March 18, 1900. The congrega-
316 LOS ANGELES
tion built a new church on Flower Street between Ninth and
Tenth streets.
Synagogues. — Congregation of B'nai B'rith. The first
Jewish services in Los Angeles were held in 1854. No place
of worship was erected for several years later. In 1862 Rabbi
A. "W. Edleman organized the congregation of B'nai B'rith
and conducted the services until 1886.
The first synagogue was built in 1873 on what is now the
site of the Copp Building, just north of the city hall grounds
on the east side of Broadway. The lot and buildings were
sold in 1894 and a new synagogue erected on the corner of
Ninth and Hope streets.
Other Denominations. — The Reorganized Church of Lat-
ter Day Saints (Mormon) was first organized in the autumn
of 1882. Services are now held at No. 516 Temple Street.
The New Church (Swedenborgian) was organized in 1894,
and held services for some time in Temperance Temple. It
has since erected a church building at 515 East Ninth Street
at a cost of $3,000.
Seventh Day Adventists organized in 1880 and built a
church on Sixth Street. They have now a church on Carr
Street which cost $6,000.
Friends Church was organized in 1897. The congregation
has erected a church building on the corner of Third and
Fremont Avenue at a cost of $4,000.
Twenty years ago Professor Barrows related to the local
Historical Society some interesting reminiscences of the early
ministers and churches in Los Angeles. In his address he
said :
As Alta California was settled by a Spanish-speaking peo-
ple who tolerated no other form of religion except the Roman
Catholic, of course there were no churches except of that faith
in Los Angeles from the time of the settlement of the ancient
pueblo until the change of government in 1846.
From and after the founding of the Mission of San Ga-
briel, in 1771, until and after the completion of the old Plaza
Church in the latter part of 1882, that mission became and rer
mained the center of industrial activity, as well as the head-
quarters of clerical authority for this portion of the province.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 317
Fathers Salvadea, Sanchez, Boseana and Estenega managed
with zeal and great ability the extensive concerns, both
spiritual and temporal, of the mission, sending a priest oc-
casionally to the pueblo, or coming themselves, to say mass,
at the capilla or chapel which had been built north and west
of the present church. After the latter was built, Father Bos-
eana became the first regular rector or pastor, serving till
1831. He was succeeded by Fathers Martinas, Sanchez,
Bachelot, Estenega, Jimenez, Ordaz, Rosales and others who
served as local pastors for longer or shorter period of the only
church in town, from 1831 to 1851.
The first priest whom I knew of, but did not know j>er-
sonally, was Padre Anacleto Lestrade, a native of France,
who was the incumbent from '51 to '56. Padre Bias Raho,
who came here in 1856, I knew well, and esteemed highly. He
was broad-minded and tolerant. He told me that he had lived
sixteen years in the Mississippi Valley before he came to Los
Angeles. He was a native of Italy.
It was during his pastorate that the old church building
was greatly improved. It was frescoed inside and out by a
Frenchman, H. Penelon, the pioneer photographer of Los
Angeles. The lettering on the front of the building as seen
today was done by Penelon, viz.: "Los Fieles de Esta Par-
roquia A la Reina de Los Angeles, 1861;" and also on the
marble tablets:
Dios Te Salve, Maria Liena de Gbacia
El Senoe Esta Ex Su Santo Templo : Calle La Tieeea ante
su acatamiexto
Santa Maria Madee de Dios, Ruega poe nosoteos Pecadobos
Padre Raho was the first vicar general of the diocese, un-
der Bishop A mat.
Later, Padre Raho, who served his parish faithfully for a
number of years, and who was respected and revered by his
parishioners, fell sick and went to the Sisters Hospital, which
was located in the large two-story brick building which stood
to the east of the upper depot, and between the latter and
the river, which the sisters bought of Mr. H. C. Cardwell,
who built it.
318 LOS ANGELES
Fathers Duran and Mora succeeded Father Raho. There
were other priests whom I did not know so well, who made
their home at different times at the parsonage adjoining the
old church. But none of these, so far as my acquaintance per-
mitted me to know, with the possible exception of Father
Mora, were as liberal as Father Raho. The bishop of these
times was Tadeo A mat, who, though his jurisdiction extended
to Monterey, made his headquarters first at Santa Barbara,
and then at this old church of "Nuestra Senora, la Reyna de
Los Angeles. ' ' Bishop Amat was succeeded by Bishop Mora,
a gentle and scholarly prelate. It was during the latter 's ad-
ministration that the Cathedral was built, on Main Street.
Bishop Mora was succeeded by Bishop Montgomery.
Of the early Protestant ministers who came to Los An-
geles, I knew personally nearly all of them, as they were
comparatively few in numbers, whilst of the many, many who
now reside here, I hardly know one, intimately.
One of the first to come here, I think, was Parson Adam
Bland, who had the reputation of being a smart preacher and
a shrewd horse trader. But I heard that after laboring here
a year or two in the early '50s, he abandoned the field as hope-
less, though in after years he came to the county again, when
he found the gospel vineyard vastly more encouraging.
When I came here in '54, there was only one church build-
ing in town — that fronting the Plaza — and no regular Protest-
ant church edifice at all.
Rev. James "Woods, Presbyterian, was holding Protestant
services then in the adobe that stood on the present site of
the "People's Store;" and he came to me and asked me to
assist in the music each Sunda5 r , which I did. Just how long
he preached here, I cannot now recall. But I remember that
when the bodies of the four members of Sheriff Barton's
party, who were killed in 1857 by the Juan Flores bandits,
were brought here for burial, there was no Protestant min-
ister here then to conduct the services. But, as it happened,
two of the murdered men were Masons, and that fraternal,
semi-religious order, in sheer pity, turned aside, after decor-
ously and reverently burying their own two brethren, and read
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 319
a portion of the Masonic burial service over the bodies of the
other two men, who were not Masons.
Rev. W. E. Boardman, a Presbyterian clergyman, came
here in 1859. He was an able and eloquent preacher and
writer and the author of a popular book, entitled "The Higher
Christian Life." The want of a commodious place of meet-
ing stimulated a movement to raise funds for the erection of a
church, and, as good B. D. Wilson had donated a lot — a por-
tion of the hill on which the County Courthouse now stands —
to the "First Protestant Society," people of various denom-
inations who, without regard to sect, attended Mr. Board-
man's ministrations, formed an organization, under the name
of "The First Protestant Society of Los Angeles," and
erected the walls and roof of a church on the lot donated by
Mr. Wilson, but this work came to a standstill after Mr.
Boardman left, and not until 1864, upon the arrival of Rev-
erend Birdsall, was any further progress made.
Rev. J. H. Stump was a Methodist minister here in the
'60s. Rev. A. M. Hough was another early preacher of the
same denomination at the same time. On the establishment
of the "Southern California Conference," Mr. Hough became
the presiding elder. It is said that Rev. J. W. Brier preached
the first Protestant sermon ever preached in Los Angeles, in
1850; but I do not think he stayed here long, as there were
neither Methodist worshipers nor a house of worship in Los
Angeles at that early date.
Rev. Elias Birdsall, who came to Los Angeles in 1864, soon
after his arrival organized an Episcopalian Church. I knew
Mr. Birdsall very well, and respected him as one of the best
men whom I ever knew. He was in all respects an admirable
citizen. He believed — and most laymen will surely agree with
him — that every person who is to become a public speaker
should make a special preparatory study of elocution.
At the funeral services of President Lincoln held in this
city, Mr. Birdsall delivered an admirable oration before a
large concourse of our citizens. Mr. Birdsall died Novem-
ber 3, 1890.
Other rectors of the original Saint Athanasius Church of
Los Angeles, afterwards St. Pauls, were Dr. J. J. Talbot,
320 LOS ANGELES
H. H. Messenger, C. F. Loop, W. H. Hill, J. B. Gray, G. W.
Burton and Mr. Birdsall. Doctor Talbot came here in 186S
and was a very gifted and impassioned orator, and had withal
a slight tinge of the sentimental or poetical in his character,
and his sermons were much admired, especially by the ladies.
Doctor Talbot, sad to say, however, was only another in-
stance of a man with brilliant talents who threw himself away
and went to the bad. He lived, in the main, an exemplary life
here, at least up to within a short time before he left. To
those who knew him intimately he used sometimes to speak
with tenderest regard of his dear children and his wife,
' ' Betty, ' ' in their pleasant home near Louisville. And to them
his last words, uttered at the very threshold of death, are full
of startling pathos and inexpressible sadness ; indeed, I know
of no sadder passage in all literature :
"I bad children — beautiful, to me at least, as a dream of
morning, and they had so entwined themselves around their
father's heart that no matter where he might wander, ever
it came back to them on the wings of a father's undying
love. The destroyer took their hands in his and led them
away. I had a wife whose charms of mind and person were
such that to ' see her was to remember, and to know her, was
to love. ' I had a mother, and while her boy raged in his wild
delirium two thousand miles away, the pitying angels pushed
the golden gates ajar,, and the mother of the drunkard entered
into rest. And thus I stand a clergyman without a church, a
barrister without a brief, a husband without a wife, a son
without a parent, a man with scarcely a friend, a soul without
hope — all swallowed up in the maelstrom of drink."
The early ministers of the Congregational Church in Los
Angeles were Bevs. Alexander Parker (1866-67) ; I. W. Ather-
ton (1867-71); J. T. Wills (1871-73); D. T. Packard (1873-
79) ; C. J. Hutchins (1879-82) ; and A. J. Wells (1882-87).
I should mention that Drs. J. W. Ellis, A. F. White and
W. J. Chichester were comparatively early pastors of the
Presbyterian Church; and also that Dr. M. M. Bovard was
president of the University of Southern California.
Dr. Eli Fay was the first Unitarian minister to hold public
religious services here. Doctor Fay was, intellectually, a very
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 321
able man, though somewhat aggressive ami self-assertive.
His sermons, barring- a rather rasping flavor of egotism, were
models of powerful reasoning. Before coming to Los An-
geles, Doctor Fay had been pastor of Unitarian congregations
at Leominster, Massachusetts, and at Sheffield, England. In
addition to his sacerdotal qualifications, Doctor Fay was a
very good judge of the value of real estate. Soon after he
came here he bought what he called "choice pieces of prop-
erty," on which it was understood he afterwards made big
money. Like many other shrewd saints who came here from
many countries, his faith in Los Angeles real estate seemed
to be second only to his faith in the realty of the land of
Canaan, or, in other words, in "choice lots" in the "New
Jerusalem."
I might recount many anecdotes concerning those minis-
ters and priests of Los Angeles of a former generation, of
whom I have spoken; for in those olden times, in this then
small town, everybody knew almost everybody else. In a
frontier town — which this then was — there are always pic-
turesque characters, among clericals as well as among laymen.
The foregoing reminiscences of Professor Barrows, to-
gether with the recollections of some other old timers, consti-
tute about all we have of the history of the churches from
the time that the spiritual field came to be shared with the
Catholics by Protestants and Jews and other sects and denom-
inations of almost innumerable creeds and philosophies.
At first glance it might seem strange that the churches
have been apparently careless in keeping records, but we are
to remember — and, in a way, to be thankful — that the churches
have lacked the cunning that characterized purely business
institutions. One would almost say that business is one thing
and religion is another. And, on this ground, we can excuse
the churches for failing to do that which in business would be
regarded as reprehensible carelessness. Business thinks in
days, but religion thinks in centuries.
To make a record of the standing and status of the churches
in Los Angeles today would be, it seems to us, an unnecessary
task. Not only has every Christian and other denomination
come into wonderful prosperity and success here, but it is also
322 LOS ANGELES
a well-known fact that it would be quite impossible to name
any religion or creed or philosophy or school of thought un-
der the sun that is without representation in Los Angeles.
More than that, we find ourselves able to say that very many
religions, or schools of thought that come under that general
head, are found in Los Angeles and nowhere else. Maybe it
is the climate, and maybe it is something else, but whatever
it is, the fact remains that Los Angeles is the most celebrated
of all incubator of new creeds, codes of ethics, philosophies
and near philosophies and schools of thought, occult, new and
old, and no day passing without the birth of something of this
nature never before heard of.
Indeed, Los Angeles has acquired a fame not altogether
enviable, as a breeding place and a rendezvous of freak re-
ligions. But this is because its winters are mild, thus luring
the pale people of thought to its sunny gates, within which
man can give himself over to meditation without being com-
pelled to interrupt himself in that interesting occupation to
put on his overcoat or keep the fire going.
With all that, it must also be said that sane religion has
nowhere in the world a safer, more prosperous and welcome
haven than it has here. Among other things, Los Angeles is
most certainlv a citv of churches.
CHAPTER XVI
THE LAW AND THE COURTS
Los Angeles having been originally a Spanish pueblo or
town, founded by order of the King, it was, of course, gov-
erned in a general way by the laws of Spain in common with
all Spanish colonies in the New World. It was a simple, direct
code based on the Roman law under which Spain had lived
for centuries. The compilation was called the "Laws of the
Kingdoms of the Indias."
Concerning this compilation we can do no greater service
to our readers than to quote Dr. Charles F. Lummis, un-
doubtedly a high authority on things Spanish-American. Doc-
tor Lummis says:
"Probably the most extraordinary amendment and am-
plification of a civil code in history was that by which the
Roman Law (under which Spain had lived for centuries) was
revised to cover the new problems of the New World. The
problems of colonial government on a large scale were for
the first time brought up to statesmen — for even the colonial
administration of Rome was child's play compared to that
undertaken by Spain more suddenly.
"The amendments were in the spirit of the code. But that
code has never had any such extraordinary revisions.
"This revision began with Ferdinand and Isabella imme-
diately upon the return of Columbus from his first voyage, in
which the New World was discovered. The most active cen-
tury of adaptation was that to which we may relate the real
geographical understanding of the three Americas — namely,
from about 1550 to 1650. But before and after this century,
the special legislation, elastic to the needs of new human and
geographical and political conditions, were of a magnitude to
challenge attention.
"A recognized authority has said that of all the 'Indian
323
:!'_>4
LOS ANGELES
Policies ' in history, none compares for humanity with the
Spanish-American policy. It may be added that no other ex-
pansion of the Roman law along logical lines is at all compara-
ble with this. For the first, if not for the only time, it was
recognized by statesmen that the first wealth of the new wil-
derness was not in its lumber, nor its land, nor its mines, but
its men. After more than three and a half centuries of this
legislation — this projection of the Roman law — the result is
The Laws' Dignity of Today
Present Court House and Hall of Records
that in Spanish America the conquered aborigine is as nu-
merous as he was in 1492 and much better off. And the mod-
ern school of scientific American history has proven this fact,
surprising to earlier scholars and to popular opinion.
' ' The Laws of the Indies are accessible in dignified volumes
in every important public library in America. The extent to
which the American adaptations of Roman law, through Span-
ish statesmanship come, are indicated by these marginal read-
ings :
" 'Indians shall not be separated from their parents.'
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 325
" 'Indians shall not be removed from their native places
■ — not even to a reservation.'
" 'Indians shall be civilized without being oppressed.'
" 'Since they are necessitous people, care must be taken
that the Indians should be educated in the price of foods and
other things. They must be taxed with justice and modera-
tion, and things must be sold to them much cheaper than to
other people.'
"Under the provisions of Spanish law, it was absolutely
impossible to evict an Indian from the land he was born on
or lived on. It was impossible to herd him on reservations
like a Cuban reconcentrado. It was impossible to violate as to
the aborigine any of the human rights which the proudest and
most punctilious Caucasian would value for himself. The
stories of oppression have no documentary foundation in the
records or in the old books. The only hardship imposed was
the same which the laws of every state in the American Union
impose on our children — compulsory education, non-vaga-
bondage. ' '
In further elaboration of this very remarkable code of laws,
I have the honor to quote an eminent Los Angeles legal au-
thority, Willoughby Rodman, Esquire, from a book written
by him entitled "History of the Bench and Bar of Southern
California," and published in 1909 by the late William J.
Porter.
No code could be more comprehensive than the Recopila-
cion, says Mr. Rodman. Provision is made for every depart-
ment of government, down to the smallest political subdivi-
sion. Every relation between state and subject or among
subjects, is covered by the most explicit and minute regula-
tions. The smallest details are provided for. A most elab-
orate system of official inspection and accounting is estab-
lished. Responsibility of officials is not only fixed in unmis-
takable terms, but is required to be strictly enforced.
The settlement of new countries and the welfare of their
native peoples are the principal objects of these laws. Col-
onization is made the subject of extensive and detailed pro-
visions. Settlers are to be induced to come to new colonies
by promises of liberal grants of public lands to be made upon
326 LOS ANGELES
small payments and easy terms. Not only do these laws seek
to obtain settlers of European birth, but provision is made
for making settlers and citizens out of indigenous people. The
protection, kind treatment, education, religious conversion and
civilization of Indians are insisted upon, and rules for the
promotion of these objects are to be enforced with great strict-
ness.
Not only is the Indian to be protected from foreign inva-
sion, and from oppression by his new masters, but he is to be
protected against himself, his civil and ecclesiastical guar-
dians being charged with the duty of inculcating principles of
industry, economy and sobriety, and enforcing their observa-
tion.
A few examples will illustrate the laws last referred to.
Governors, judges and alcaldes were required to see that
inns and taverns be provided in Indian pueblos, so that in-
specting officials should not be quartered upon Indians against
their will. It was also made the duty of such officials to in-
struct the Indians in the methods by which they could secure
justice ; to respect the habits and social systems of the Indians
so far as these are not contrary to (Roman Catholic) re-
ligion.
They were also charged to "see that the Indians are not
idle nor vagabond, but that they work in their fields or at other
labor on work days ; that they improve the land for their own
benefit, and that they attend church ; that these officials should
not take from citizens or Indians, nor any one whatever, per-
sonal service without paying tbem."
As to governors, judges, advocates and alcaldes, the laws
provided that they "must give bond before being qualified;
must hear all persons equally and with benignity so that their
grievances may be settled easily and without trouble; must
hold court in public places and not in the closets of notaries ;
must inspect all territory under their jurisdiction — but only
one time (though frequent inspections were required to be
made by other officials) ; shall not receive fees for their in-
spections; shall not quarter themselves on citizens against
their will."
"They shall see that the lands of their jurisdiction are
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 327
improved and the public works kept in good repair — that
meats, fish and other foods be sold at reasonable prices. That
fences, walls, streets, bridges, sidewalks, fountains, slaughter-
houses and all other public works and edifices be kept clean
and in repair."
A law of 1583 provided that "Governors who are not col-
lege graduates (licentiates) shall name lieutenants who are;
these must give bond and must also pass an examination."
Governors, judges, advocates, mayors and their lieutenants
were included in the prohibition against and penalties im-
posed upon ministers trading or being in commerce in the
Indies.
They were also required to present inventories of all their
possessions at the time of taking office — presumably for the
purpose of enabling higher officials to determine whether or
not the close of their terms showed an undue increase of
worldly goods.
A law of 1570 required the formation of a corps of ' ' Med-
ical directors-general." This corps was sent by the king to
the colonies to study medicinal plants, herbs, etc., and publish
directions concerning their use. It was their duty to test
everything, to examine experts, whether Spanish or Indian,
"sending to Spain samples and seeds of those plants found
beneficial ; writing fully and clearly the natural history of the
country; taking residence in one of the cities in which there
is a chancellery, and with a jurisdiction for five leagues around
their residence ; they shall examine and give license to persons
desiring to practice medicine. They shall proceed against
any person practicing medicine without proper license."
In 1535 it was decreed that "no person shall practice med-
icine or surgery without a degree and a license ; nor make use
of any title for which they have no diploma as Doctor, Master
or Bachelor." "Medical directors-general shall not give
licenses to candidates who do not appear personally before
them for examination — to no Doctor, Surgeon, Apothecary
or Barber, nor to any other exercising the faculties of med-
icine or surgery (1579)."
Another law provides that "viceroys, presidents and gov-
ernors shall have inspections made of the drug stores of their
328 LOS ANGELES
districts, and if there are corrupt medicines, shall have them
spilled and thrown away so that there can be no other use of
them. ' '
Thus in 1538 we have a law similar to the "Pure Food"
laws of today.
Sheriffs were permitted to appoint and remove their lieu-
tenants and jailors. The law required that "sheriffs and their
lieutenants must make the rounds and inspect all public places
by night under pain of suspension. They must not wink at
forbidden games nor public sins; nor receive fees nor gifts
from prisoners, shall not arrest without a writ ; in an Indian
pueblo the sheriff may be an Indian."
A law of 1535 exempted from execution pearl-fishery boats,
machines used in mining; also horses or weapons, except in
default of other goods.
This Recopilacion or compilation, modified from time to
time as to special subjects by the various " reglamentos " or
instructions above referred to, issued by king or viceroy, con-
stituted the law of California, of which Los Angeles was a
part, from its settlement in 1769 until the establishment of the
Mexican Empire. Under Mexican rule California, being a
territory, was governed directly by the federal executive and
Cortes of Mexico. Territorial juntas or legislative assemblies
had or, at least, exercised, legislative functions in regard to
local affairs. The general laws of Mexico were based upon
the civil law, and were in their general scope similar to the
laws of the Recopilacion.
In the colonization law of 1824 and the Regulations of 1828
the decrees of Spanish monarchs as set forth in the Recopila-
cion are expressly recognized. Recopilacion and "Novissima
Recopilacion" were in force in California in 1840.
As the law of Spain, and later as the foundation of the law
of Mexico, the civil law obtained in California until April 13,
1850. On the last-mentioned date the Legislature of Califor-
nia passed an act providing "The Common Law of England,
so far as it is not repugnant to or inconsistent with the con-
stitution of the United States, or the constitution or laws of
the state of California, shall be the rule of decision in all the
courts of this state."
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 329
In the above synopsis we have quoted Mr. Rodman ver-
batim.
This first Legislature of California is celebrated in history
as the "Legislature of a Thousand Drinks," which would
seem to indicate on the face of the epithet that about all the
members of the body did was to stew themselves in alcoholic
beverages. But, fortunately, while it may be true that the
flowing bowl was much in evidence, the fact remains that it
was probably the best Legislature the State of California has •
ever had, down to this day. It consisted of fifty-two members
and its session lasted 129 days. It performed an enormous
amount of work and put the new commonwealth on a firm
foundation legally. Among other things it created Los An-
geles as a bona fide American city by Act of April 4th.
But let us go back to the days before the star of California
was placed in the azure field of Old Glory, in order that we
may see just how the law of the land was executed, especially
as Los Angeles was affected thereby.
In the patient and painstaking way of all student lawyers,
Mr. Rodman tells us that the judicial officers most frequently
mentioned in California history are the alcaldes. And he
goes on further to say :
The office of alcalde is of ancient origin, having been cre-
ated and recognized in Spain long prior to the conquest of
Mexico. The Reeopilacion de las Indias provides for the ap-
pointment of alcaldes in Spanish colonies, and defines their
jurisdiction and powers. In each city or pueblo there were
two ordinary alcaldes chosen each year. Ordinary alcaldes
had jurisdiction in the first instance of all cases, civil or crim-
inal. Appeals from their acts or sentences went to the audien-
cias or royal councils, to the governor, or to the ayuntamiento,
the local governing body.
The Reeopilacion provided that alcaldes "must be hon-
orable persons, able and sufficient, know how to read and write,
and have other qualities which are required for such offices ;
preference given to descendants of pioneers 'if they have the
necessary qualifications for government and the administra-
tion of justice'; must be citizens; cannot be re-elected until
330 LOS ANGELES
after an interim of two years and passing an inspection of
their term."
The law creating the office of alcalde seems to have been
operative in California under Spanish rule. Alcaldes also
exercised certain administrative and legislative functions,
acting as members of ayuntamientos, and as rulers of towns
in the event of the death of a governor, leaving no lieuten-
ant ; having general supervisory duties, and the power to in-
spect houses of the religious brotherhoods.
A communication from Governor Borica (1794-1800) to a
newly elected alcalde indicated the nature of the duties apper-
taining to the office. As this communication might prove use-
ful to judicial or administrative officers of today, it is given :
"I approve of the election of your honor as alcalde for the
ensuing year, and am persuaded that you will exercise the
duties of your office with the dignity of an honest man. You
will consent to no immoral practices, to no drunkenness, to no
species of gaming that is prohibited by law. You will en-
courage and stimulate every poblador who does not enjoy
military exemption to work his land and take proper care of
his stock. You will permit no idleness. You will, in fine, be
zealous in complying with all the obligations of your employ-
ment, treat the Indians, both Christian and Gentile, with kind-
ness and consideration, and fulfill the orders of the govern-
ment without attempting to put strained constructions upon
them. ' '
During the early years of Spanish rule, captains, military
chiefs and governors of California were authorized to act as
ordinary judges of first instance in all cases, civil and crim-
inal, arising in their respective districts. Criminal cases were
tried by military officers under and according to military law,
except capital cases, which were to be tried by a council of
war or court martial. Prior to 1800 the viceroy exercised
the powers of a judge in criminal cases. (1 Bancroft, p. 638.)
It seems to have been the custom in important cases to trans-
mit the papers for decision to the commandante-general. (Hit-
tell.)
In 1791, Don Felipe De Neve, the immortal founder of Los
Angeles, then commandante-general, on receiving papers in a
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 331
criminal prosecution, advises with the assessor or law adviser
of the commandancia (or province) and refused to entertain
the cases, on the ground that his jurisdiction was military
rather than judicial, and that the only proper course of pro-
cedure was for the captain who had acted as judge of first
instances, to decide every cause before him, and from his de-
cision an appeal might be taken to the royal audiencia or su-
preme court. Gradually the judicial powers of military offi-
cers were either taken away by law, or suffered to lapse to
a great extent, for the history of later years of Spanish rule
shows an increasing exercise of judicial functions by alcaldes.
These officers acted as judges of first instance, neither their
jurisdiction nor the right of procedure upon appeal from their
judgments being clearly defined. A decree of the Spanish
Cortes, dated October 9, 1812, defining certain duties and
functions of alcaldes, is as follows :
"CHAPTER THIRD
' ' Of the Constitutional, Alcaldes ix the Towxs
"Art. 1. Inasmuch as the alcaldes of towns exercise in
them the office of amicable compounders, every person who
wishes to attack another before the district judge, either on
account of some civil wrong or some tort, must present him-
self before the competent alcalde, who, with two good men
(hombres buenos), appointed one by each of the contending
parties, shall hear both parties, and take into consideration
the reasons they allege, and after hearing the opinion of the
associates shall give, within eight days at most, his concil-
iating decision, calculated, in his opinion, to terminate the lit-
igation, without going any further. This decision will, in
effect, terminate the dispute, if the parties acquiesce in the
decision, which must be inscribed upon a book, which the
alcalde must keep, bearing the title of 'Decisions of Concilia-
tion,' signed by the said alcalde, the good men and the parties,
if they know how to write, and certificates of the same are to
be given to such as may desire the same.
"Art. 2. If the parties do not conform to this decree, it
must also be inscribed in the same book, and the alcalde shall
332 LOS ANGELES
give a certificate to the party desiring it, that he has brought
an action of conciliation, and that the parties interested have
not consented thereto.
"Art. 3. When some person residing in another town is
cited before the competent alcalde of conciliation, the alcalde
must cause him to be cited, by means of the judge of his resi-
dence, that he may appear, either in person or by an attorney
of competent powers, within a sufficient period of time, which
must be prescribed; and if he should not appear, the plaintiff
will be entitled to a certificate, specifying that he has made a
demand in conciliation, which has failed because the defend-
ant has neglected to appear.
"Art. 4. If the demand in conciliation has reference to
the effects of a debtor about to remove the same; or to pre-
vent the construction of some new work, or other things of
like urgency, and the plaintiff requires the alcalde to take
provisional measures in order to avoid the injury which might
arise from delay, the alcalde shall do so immediately, and
forthwith proceed with the conciliation.
"Art. 5. The alcaldes will, moreover, take cognizance in
their respective towns of all civil suits wherein the sums in
controversy do not exceed fifty reals vellon in the peninsula,
and the adjacent lands, and one hundred silver dollars in the
ultramarine provinces; and in criminal cases of slight faults
and injuries which only require reprimand or light correction,
the proceedings in both cases being verbal. For this purpose,
the alcaldes, as well in civil as in criminal matters, will asso-
ciate good men, as above mentioned, chosen by each of the con-
tending parties, and after hearing the plaintiff and defendant
and taking the opinion of the associates, shall give such a
decision before the notary as they may deem just, and from
such an opinion the parties cannot appeal, nor does it require
any other formality than to inscribe it, together with a suc-
cinct exposition of the proceedings, in the book which is re-
quired to be kept for verbal judgments, and to have it sub-
scribed by the alcalde, the good men and the notary.
"Art. 6. The alcaldes of towns shall likewise take cog-
nizance of all judicial proceedings in civil suits until litigation
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SKA 333
arise among the parties thereto, in which event they shall
transfer them to the district judge.
"Art. 7. They may all take cognizance, at the request of
the parties, of such proceedings as are litigated, when they
are very urgent, as the preparation of an inventory, the quiet-
ing of possession, or others of a like nature, referring the mat-
ter to the judge as soon as the object of their interference has
been accomplished.
"Art. 8. The alcaldes, when a crime has been committed
in their towns, or some delinquent has been discovered, ought
to proceed ex-officio, or at the request of a party, to institute
the first proceedings of the inquest (summaris) and cause the
criminals to be apprehended, in every cause where an offense
has been committed, which according to law deserves corporal
punishment, or when the offender has been found flagrante
delicto; but in such cases they shall immediately transfer to
the district judge the proceedings by them had, and place the
criminal at his disposal.
"Art. 9. The alcaldes of towns in which the district judge
resides may, and ought to make all the preparatory proceed-
ings spoken of in the preceding article, and give immediate
notice of the same to the district judge, that he may continue
the proceedings.
"Art. 10. In all the proceedings which may be required as
well in civil as in criminal causes, the district judges cannot
employ other alcaldes than those of their respective towns.
"Art. 11. As it respects the government, economy and the
police of the towns, the alcaldes shall exercise the same juris-
diction and powers which existing laws grant to the ordinary
alcaldes, observing in every respect the provisions of the con-
stitution on this subject."
So far as appears from history, the Mexican judicial sys-
tem was similar to that of Spain, and during the Mexican
Empire and the early years of the republic, laws were admin-
istered by the same courts as under the Spanish regime.
Coming now to the times of the American occupation of
California, we see that in his proclamation to the people, call-
ing a convention to form a state constitution, Governor Riley
stated that courts were in existence in California as follows:
334 LOS ANGELES
1. A Superior Court (tribunal superior) of the territory,
consisting of four judges and a fiscal. 2. A judge of first
instance for each district. This office is, by a custom not in-
consistent with the laws, vested in the first alcalde of the
district. 3. Alcaldes who have concurrent jurisdiction among
themselves in the same district, but are subordinate to the
higher judicial tribunes. 4. Local justices of the peace.
As to the Superior Court referred to by Governor Riley,
we are not fully informed by history concerning its jurisdic-
tion; nor does history show that it was ever fully organized
or performed its functions.
Under the "Plan de Gobierno," or plan of government,
adopted for the Mexican Republic of 1824, judicial power,
so far as concerned people of the pueblos, was vested in the
first instance in the alcaldes, or in justices of the peace; in
the second instance, in commandants of presidios, and in the
third and final instance in the governor.
As concerned people outside pueblos, judicial power was
vested in first instance in alcaldes, in the second and final
instance in the governor.
Alcaldes continued to exercise the same powers as they
had exercised prior to the revolution. Courts of First In-
stance were never organized in California. But records of
Los Angeles County show that suits were brought and deter-
mined in a court of that name, presided over by an alcalde.
Shortly after Mexico achieved independence, the two Cal-
ifornias were united into the Sixth Judicial Circuit of the
Mexican Republic, and Alta California was made one of the
districts of that circuit. In 1828 a court for the circuit was
instituted at Rosaria, but at that time no district court had
been organized in Alta California.
Bancroft says that in 1826 there were no courts of law in
California competent to try civil or criminal cases.
Under the Mexican law of 1836, alcaldes continued to ex-
ercise jurisdiction over cases of conciliation, what was known
as "oral litigation," and preliminary proceedings of both
civil and criminal nature.
They had jurisdiction in all municipal matters, in cases
of minor offences, and in actions to recover debts not exceed-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 335
ing $100. Appeals from their decisions were taken to the
Court of First Instance.
The Mexican system provided that there be in each partido
a Court of First Instance, presided over provisionally by the
first alcalde, in places having an ayuntamiento ; in other places
by the justice of the peace of first nomination. From 1824 to
1840 Courts of First Instance were presided over by alcaldes
or justices of the peace. We find no record, during this pe-
riod, of the election or appointment of any person as judge
of first instance eo nomine. Judge Nathaniel Bannett, one of
the first three justices of the Supreme Court of the State,
says : "It is believed that judges of first instance were never
appointed and never held office in California under the Mexi-
can regime, but that alcaldes possessed the powers and juris-
diction of judges of first instance. The alcaldes, before the an-
nexation of the country, it is believed, certainly afterwards,
to a great extent, both made and enforced the law; or, at
least, they paid but little regard either to American or Mexi-
can law further than suited their own convenience and con-
duced to their own profit."
Courts of First Instance had appellate jurisdiction over
alcalde's courts, and original jurisdiction of all cases involving
more than $100.
The Court of Second Instance provided for by Mexican
law was an appellate tribunal with jurisdiction of appeals
from Courts of First Instance.
Courts of Third Instance were courts of last resort, ex-
cept the Supreme Tribunal of Mexico. This court was com-
posed of all the judges of second instance. It had cognizance
of cases involving more than $4,000. Its power of review was
not limited to questions raised below, but it could not review
questions upon which the two inferior courts had concurred.
It may have been intended that Courts of Second and Third
Instance should be established in California, but we have no
evidence of their establishment. In a decree of the Mexican
Congress made March 2, 1843, it is said that no Courts of
Second and Third Instance had been established in Cali-
fornia.
By act of March 28, 1843, the governor of the territory was
336 LOS ANGELES
instructed to see that justice be administered in the first in-
stance "by judges of that grade, if there be such, or by al-
caldes, or justices of the peace." Whether or not these courts
had ever been established in California, the first Legislature,
of the State considered it necessary to pass a statute abolish-
ing them.
In 1839, on recommendation of Governor Alvarado, the de-
partmental junta established a Superior Court, and appointed
four judges and an attorney-general, or "fiscal." Several
judges and the fiscal declined to act, and for some years the
court transacted no business.
On account of the commission of numerous crimes, and
influenced by the protests of foreign governments against the
prevailing lawlessness, an extra session of the junta was
called for the purpose of filling vacancies on the bench and
putting the superior tribunal into working order. On May
31, 1842, the junta elected a new fiscal, and designated persons
to act as substitute members of court and fill vacancies that
had occurred or might occur. The tribunal organized and
transacted some business, but according to Hittell's history,
"it cannot be said to have distinguished itself either for learn-
ing, diligence, or effectiveness." No judge of this court was
a lawyer.
On June 15, 1845, the superior tribunal of justice was re-
organized. It was to consist of two members and a fiscal, and
was divided into two chambers denominated "First" and
"Second." Ministers and fiscal were to be appointed by the
governor upon nomination by the junta. Clerks and other
ministerial officers were appointed by the court. Ministers
and fiscal, whose first appointments were provisional, were to
receive $2,000 per year; but when the offices should be filled
by professional lawyers, incumbents were to receive $3,000
per year. It was directed that the government should, by
means of notices published in newspapers, invite candidates
for positions as ministers or fiscal to present statements show-
ing their qualifications. The employment of a similar system
at this day would make the governor's duties exceedingly
onerous. The same statute provided that in each capital of
a "partido" a Court of First Instance should be established.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 337
to be presided over provisionally by the first alcalde in places
having ayuntamientos ; elsewhere by the justice of the peace
of first nomination. The first judicial district, which was to
be known as that of Los Angeles, included all territory from
the northern boundary of San Luis Obispo Mission to the
southern boundary of Alta California.
The first district was divided into three partidos — the
first that of Los Angeles, extending from the crest of Santa
Susana Mountains to the southern limit of the Mission of San
Juan Capistrano ; the second, Santa Barbara, extending from
the northern limits of the Mission of San Luis Obispo south-
wardly to and including the ranchos of Simi and El Triunfo ;
the third, San Diego, to comprehend all the Mission of San
Luis Rey, thence southward to the southern boundary of the
territory. Very little is known of the nature or volume of
business transacted by courts established or provided for by
this system.
Mr. Rodman calls attention to the fact that Bancroft men-
tions a certain person as having been appointed "Superior
Judge" in 1849, but of this judge, or of the Superior Court
referred to in the governor's proclamation, we have no defi-
nite information.
Alcaldes continued to transact the greater portion, if not
all, of the judicial business of the territory. Their powers
were varied and extensive.
In 1836 one Maria del Pilar Buelna complained to Michael
Requena, alcalde of Los Angeles, that her husband, Policarpo
Higuera, had beaten her so severely that she had been obliged
to leave his house. The husband justified himself on the
ground that his wife had disobeyed his commands not to visit
her mother. Requena attempted as part of his duty as judge
of a Court of Conciliation, to settle this dispute and reconcile
the couple. But in this he failed, and the controversy came
to trial. It appeared upon investigation that the husband
was dissatisfied not only because his wife had visited her
mother, but because she had gone with his brother, whom he
had forbidden his house. As the husband did not charge his
wife with the commission of any crime, the court ordered that
the couple should live together "as God had commanded,"
338 LOS ANGELES
and also ordered that if in the future the husband should have
any complaint, he should make it to the court, and not attempt
to take the punishment into his own hands, and that if the
husband's brother should interfere, he should be punished
according to his deserts. This judgment was not only de-
cidedly in personam, but is an example of equitable pater-
nalism. Husbands frequently applied to courts for orders
compelling their wives to live with them. In 1840 one Ortez
of Los Angeles, claiming that his wife had run away to San
Gabriel, an officer was sent with instructions to bring her back
to marital protection.
And thus we see how Los Angeles was governed from the
time it was founded until the Stars and Stripes floated in
conquest over it and it became subject to American laws.
But whether or not the new laws were better than were the old
ones, it were hard to say. But certainly we can say this, that
there are altogether too many laws in these days in cities
and out of cities, and that this is a charge that cannot be
made against the older system.
When we speak of law and the courts, we naturally think
of litigation. We might have reason to suppose that if all laws
were obeyed, and if there were no argument as to their mean-
ing, there would be no need of courts. But, unhappily, it is
quite impossible now, as it has always been, to frame the
simplest law without subjecting it to a different interpretation
by almost everybody that reads it.
This same thing is what causes so many different religions,
and so many sects of the same religion. One man reads the
Bible and interprets it differently from another man who
reads it. Consequently, we have a great many creeds and
sects, and the number seems to be constantly increasing.
It is the same way with laws enacted by human beings, and
the result is an ever increasing multiplicity of courts. The
more laws the more litigation.
Now, immediately upon the American occupation of Cal-
ifornia, and for many years succeeding it — even down to the
present day — the most fruitful source of litigation has been
the title to real property. And this brings us to the often-
mentioned subject of land grants. "Old Spanish Land
PROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 339
Grants" and "Mexican Land Grants" are familiar phrases in
California. The title to all property in the City of Los An-
geles, as well as throughout all California, goes back to one
or the other of these "Grants," and depends upon them for
validity.
Spain acquired title to California by virtue of discovery,
conquest and occupation — a title admitted as valid by the
custom of nations and international law. Wherefore, all real
property in California, all title to the land, was vested orig-
inally in the Spanish crown.
Then the crown proceeded to "grant" lands to individuals,
and thus began the business upon which real estate operators,
lawyers, title and abstract companies and the courts thrive.
The first conveyance of crown land to any individual in Cal-
ifornia was made in November, 1775, to one Manuel Butron
somewhere in the northern part of the province which was
authorized by instructions given by the Governor Bucareli to
the Commandante Rivera y Moncada.
The first grants made in the present City of Los Angeles
are recounted in detail in the early chapters of this book.
Rodman says: "At first all grants were executed by the
Government ; later, grants of pueblo lands were made by the
ayuntamientos of the various pueblos. Grants of other lands
were always executed by the Governor. During the early
years of Spanish rule, grants of absolute titles were not made,
citizens receiving merely the right to use the land or take its
produce. ' '
In order to fully understand the difference between the
idea of the Spanish system of owning land and our present
American system, we can do no better than to quote the lan-
guage of the Supreme Court of California in a celebrated case.
The Supreme Court said:
"1. Our plan has been to encourage settlement of the
country by selling land in small tracts at a minimum price.
"When so settled, villages, cities and towns have grown up as
required to supply the wants of the settlers. They have been
called into existence by the settlements ; but, in the beginning,
have not contributed much to cause the country to be settled.
"The Spanish system was the opposite. They founded or
340 LOS ANGELES
encouraged the formation of villages which, hy affording
protection as well as educational and religious privileges,
would encourage settlement of the neighboring country.
"2. These pueblos differed from our municipalities in
many respects. They had no charters, and seem always to
have been subject to the control and supervision of superior
officers, and this control seems to have been complete and
constant. They could suspend, restrict or enlarge the powers
of the officers of the pueblo ; and yet the pueblos, to an extent
and in a mode which is strange to us, constituted convenient
instrumentalities for the government of the neighboring
country. Their jurisdiction, subject always to the supervision
of higher officers, often extended over large territories.
"3. Perhaps the most important respect in which the
pueblos and the habits of the inhabitants differed from our
municipalities and the habits of our people, is found in the
extent to which individual wants were supplied from public
or common lands. In this respect the difference is almost
startling. Our practice is to reduce everything to private
ownership from which a profit can be niade; and, of course,
the more essential it is to the members of the community, the
more profit can be made from it. The rule of the pueblo was
almost the reverse of this. So far as communal ownership
would answer the purposes of the community it was preferred.
As water was one of the things thus held, we may understand
better the nature of the right which the pueblos had to it by
considering other properties so held."
Like everything else that was good or intended to be good,
this power of granting lands to individuals by governors and
ayuntamientos began in time to be abused during the Spanish
and Mexican eras of California. The governors, particularly,
appeared to have been moved by a spirit of splendid gener-
osity toward their friends and favorites. It was nothing at
all for a governor of California, under Spain and Mexico, to
present a friend with a principality over a cup of coffee or
a glass of good wine.
That's how we come to hear of so many of the old Span-
ish, Mexican and California!! families in California having
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 341
been the owners of thousands upon thousands of acres of land
upon which today are budded towns and cities.
It is only fair to say, however, that in many cases in those
old times, the more land a man owned the poorer he was,
and when we often wonder why these old families did not hold
onto their vast possessions, the answer is that in those times
of sparse population and lack of commercial development, a
man had to have some other source of income than his land in
order merely to pay the taxes upon it, and thus retain posses-
sion of it.
It appears from the records, not to speak of the memory of
men still living, that no governor of California even remotely
approached in open-handed generosity Don Pio Pico, the last
of the Mexican governors.
But even Don Pio Pico is backed up in his wonderful ex-
travagances by what was from his point of view, and the
point of view of his fellow-Calif ornians, a good reason. They
saw that California was inevitably to fall into the hands of the
Government of the United States and to become a part of that
great nation. They saw that in that event the strangers would
become the new lords of the manors. So, it is said, that dur-
ing the last days of his reign, Pio Pico worked ceaselessly at
signing conveyances of lands to his friends and followers.
When California became a state of the American Union,
the United States had no end of trouble for many years in
deciding between valid and fraudulent titles to the land.
Speaking of cases of this nature, the Supreme Court of the
United States itself says in this somewhat weary tone of
voice :
"No class of cases that come before this court are attended
with so many and such perplexing difficulties as these are.
The number of them which we are called upon to decide bears
a very heavy disproportion to the other business of the court,
and this is unfortunately increasing instead of diminishing.
Some idea of the difficulties that surround these cases may
be obtained by recurring to the loose and indefinite manner
in which the Mexican Government made the grants which we
are now required judicially to locate. That government at-
tached no value to the land, and granted it in what to us ap-
342 LOS ANGELES
pears magnificent quantities. Leagues instead of acres were
their units of measurement, and when an application was made
to the government for a grant which was always a gratuity,
the only question was whether the locality asked for was
vacant or public property. "When the grant was made, no
surveyor sighted a compass or stretched a chain. Indeed,
these instruments were probably not to be had in that region.
A sketch, called a diseno, which was rather a map than a plat
of the land, was prepared by the applicant. It gave, in a rude
and imperfect manner, the shape and general outline of the
land desired, with some of the more prominent natural objects
noted on it, and a reference to the adjoining tracts owned by
individuals, if there were any, or to such other objects as were
supposed to constitute the boundaries. Their ideas of the re-
lation of the points of the compass to the objects on the map
were very inaccurate; and as these sketches were made by
uneducated herdsmen of cattle, it is easy to imagine how im-
perfect they were. Yet they are now often the most satisfac-
tory and sometimes the only evidence by which to locate these
claims."
Hundreds of these cases were reviewed by the Supreme
Court of the United States, and were represented by the
greatest lawyers this country has ever known, as only a partial
mention of them will prove. Among the great names we find
the following: Jeremiah Sullivan Black, the giant Pennsyl-
vanian, and one time attorney-general of the United States;
Caleb Cushing, Edwin M. Stanton, Reverdy Johnson, William
M. Evarts, John J. Crittenden, Judah P. Benjamin, the im-
mortal Charles 'Conor, Titian J. Coffey, and Hall Mc-
Allister.
In its report upon these cases the United States Land
Commission, among other things, said: "A greater variety
of subjects, or a wider field of investigation, was rarely, if
ever, open to any tribunal, and the faith of the nation under
the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, justice to a conquered
people and a due regard to the provisions of the Act of Con-
gress organizing this Commission, imposed the duty of a
careful investigation of the many questions presented in these
cases."
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 343
In the spring of 1847, Col. J. D. Stevenson, an officer of
the United States, was placed in command of the southern
military district of California, and charged particularly with
the duty of investigating the land grants which had been made
by the Mexican authorities within the limits of his command.
And Colonel Stevenson said that soon after he got his dis-
trict in order he began to make inquiries as to who were the
civil officers under Pico, and learned from Abel Stearns and
others that he (Stearns) was either the prefect or sub-prefect,
and an intimate and confidential friend of Pico, and from him
and others he learned that grants were made after it was
known that the Americans had taken possession of California,
which were antedated, and especially those made in this section
of the county from San Jose this way, and that a very large
portion of them were signed by Pico on the day and night
preceding his start for Mexico, which was about the 8th or 9th
of August, 1846 ; Stearns told him that he was present on the
day and night referred to, especially the night those grants
were executed, and that Pico left him (Stearns) in charge as
next officer in command. These grants were frequently the
subject of conversation ; and on one occasion a party to whom
a valuable grant was made, conferred to him that the grant
was executed that night, and he knew nothing of it until be
was sent for to accept the grant. He availed himself of every
opportunity to obtain information about these grants, both by
conversation and otherwise.
And that was the way things went in those days — the good
old days now long since gone, when a few thousand acres of
land between friends was a small matter; and not as it is
now, when they measure it off by the inch to you, and every
foot of it in Los Angeles is worth a king's ransom.
The task of straightening it all out was a huge one, re-
quiring great labor, great patience and great ability. And it
was a task well performed by both courts and lawyers.
Of the Los Angeles courts and the lawyers of the early
days of California statehood there is scant record. But of the
lawyers and courts of fifty years ago — and that's a long time
ago, too — we have been given some vivid pen pictures by
Jackson A. Graves, Ph. D., who was for many years himself
344 LOS ANGELES
a practicing attorney-at-law, but who is better known since
as the president of the Farmers and Merchants National
Bank. In his reminiscences along these lines, Mr. Graves
says :
I arrived in Los Angeles on the 5th day of June, 1875. I
came from San Francisco to accept a position as clerk with
the law firm of Branson & Eastman, and to continue my law
studies. This meant, when reduced to more practical terms,
my working very hard all day for a small salary, and doing
my studying at night. In the following January I was ad-
mitted to practice by the Supreme Court of the state, and then
became a member of the firm of Branson, Eastman and
Graves.
That was a long time ago, as we measure human life, and
quite a number of you were at that time yet unborn. Los
Angeles had an able bar then, as she has now. The principal
paying business was done by the firms of Glassell, Chapman &
Smiths, Thorn & Boss, Branson & Eastman, and Howard &
Hazard, while all of the others, including J. D. Bicknell and
Stephen M. White, were dividing up among themselves the
business unappropriated by the firms mentioned, and waiting
for the leading attorneys to die.
One of my first acquaintances in Los Angeles was Mathew
Keller, known as "Don Mateo" Keller, a shrewd Irishman,
who had been educated for the priesthood, and who decided to
follow more worldly pursuits. He was a client of our firm
and he and I became quite chummy. He was a delightful con-
versationalist, a most interesting man, a large property
holder, a prosperous winemaker, and a man of affairs gen-
erally. He was eager to hear from me all I knew about the
great lawyers of San Francisco. I imparted this information
to him, and got from him, before I got personally acquainted
with them, a pretty good understanding of the practice,
habits and standing of the members of the Los Angeles Bar,
of whom I think there are today not over five in practice who
were in practice when I arrived in Los Angeles.
Don Mateo had names for each of them. For instance, he
called Andrew Glassell "Mucho Frio," on account of his
austere manner. Col. Geo. H. Smith he called "Circumlocu-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 345
tion," and I will leave it to the Colonel whether or not Keller
slandered him in so naming him. A. B. Chapman, in my
estimation, was then and is now, a most worthy gentleman.
Because his firm had sued Keller repeatedly over certain land
titles, he dubbed him "Sepelota," which, I believe, means
"scavenger." G. S. Patton, Mr. Glassell's' nephew and a
clerk in their office, he styled "Handsome George." Captain
Thorn, Judge Ross' uncle and partner, he called "Redun-
dans," and when I asked him why, he replied: "Well, if
Capt. Thorn wanted to ask a witness if that was the same
horse Pedro Lopez had, he would say, 'Are you quite sure,
in your own mind, beyond the slightest hope, expectation or
possibility of a doubt, that this is the same, identical horse,
that this man Pedro Lopez had"?' " Hon. E. M. Ross he
called "Generalissimo," on account of his military bearing
and appearance. Col. Jim Howard he called "Basso Pro-
fundo," on account of his deep bass voice. Will D. Gould,
who was then an ardent advocate of temperance, he dubbed
"Sanctimonius Sanctimonium." Frank Ganahl was with him
"Punchinello," and W. H. Mace he termed "Bulbus." He
was well named, for there was something about the man that
looked like he was about to sprout. His intimate friend,
Judge Brunson, he called "Nervio Bilio," and General Volney
E. Howard, "Ponderosity," referring more to his physical
rather than to his mental make-up. Thomas H. Smith, or
"Long Tom" Smith, as we called him, he called "El Culebra."
Horace Bell was "Blusterissimo," and Judge Sepulveda,
"Mueho Grande." His very intimate friend, I. W. Hellman,
not a lawyer, but a banker, he always called "Valiente."
I asked him what he was going to call me. I had the first
Remington typewriter in Los Angeles and ran it incessantly.
If you will examine the case filed of the Superior Court of
this county, from 1875 to 1880, you will find miles and miles
of the work of that old machine in these files. It made
much more racket than the present machines, and when
running very fast its metallic click sounded like ' ' diddle dad-
die, diddle daddle." When I put that question to him, he
answered promptly "Diddle Daddle," and with him that re-
mained my name until the day of his death.
346 LOS ANGELES
Judge Sepulveda was district judge, and Judge H. K. S.
O'Melveny, father of our Henry, was county judge. He was
a courtly gentleman, a friend and assistant of young and as-
piring attorneys, the especial favorite of country jurymen,
but I always thought a little given to bearing down on the law-
yers for the juror's benefit. He was expressive in his rulings,
and in all of his proceedings.
One of the funniest things I ever saw occurred in Judge
O'Melveny 's courtroom. A Mexican had been convicted of
grand larceny in stealing horses. He couldn't talk English,
and Judge O'Melveny called on Captain Haley to interpret
the sentence to him. To appreciate the story you should have
known Haley. He had been a surveyor, a sea captain, a
druggist, a doctor, and now a practicing lawyer, and was him-
self a witness in nearly every case he ever had. It was of him
that Col. Jim Howard, in an argument before a jury, said:
"But we are told by Salisbury Haley, Surveyor Haley, Cap-
tain Haley, Druggist Haley, Dr. Haley, Lawyer Haley, Wit-
ness Haley, that the whole story is a fabrication." He was
short of stature, a rotund, meek-appearing man, and was a
perfect picture of innocence personified as he advanced to the
prisoner's dock. He stood up by the side of the Mexican. To
look at the men as the judge addressed them, no one could
have told which was the culprit. Judge O'Melveny glued his
gaze on Haley, pointed his finger at him, and in his most
penetrating voice and most earnest manner addressed the
prisoner through Haley as follows :
"You have been charged by the Grand Jury of this county
with a most heinous offense — •"
(Haley threw up his finger in sign that he had enough, and
interpreted that to the Mexican, who replied, "Si, si, Senor.")
Then the judge, in the same impressive manner, still look-
ing at Haley, and pointing his finger at him, continued: "You
have been tried by an intelligent jury of your peers — "
(Signs from Haley, and further interpretation, the Mexican
again answering, "Si, si, Senor," and mind you, the attention
of the Mexican was fixed on Haley, not on the court.)
"And after a fair and impartial trial, at which you were
ably defended by a loyal attorney, this jury, after long and
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 347
mature deliberation, has found you guilty of the offense
charged. Have you anything to say why sentence should not
be passed upon you?"
(More interpretation, and "Nada," with a shrug of the
shoulders, from the prisoner.)
Then the judge continued: "It is a shame that a fine, in-
telligent looking man like yourself cannot find something bet-
ter to do than horse stealing, and I trust that the sentence I
am about to impose upon you will deter others from following
your example, and that your incarceration will be for your
moral welfare — "
(Sign from Haley, and long interpretation. "Si, si Senor,
esta bueno," from the prisoner.)
"I will, however, temper mercy with justice, in dealing
with you, and it is the sentence of this Court that you be con-
fined in the state's prison at San Quentin for a term of four
years. ' '
(More interpretation, "Si, si Senor, esta bueno, muchas
gracias," from the prisoner.)
No other human being on earth could have interpreted
that sentence with the meekness and humility that Haley did,
and as the judge never took his eyes off him, "any looker-on
in Venice" would have thought that it was Haley who was
going to the penitentiary for life.
Colonel Howard was a man of rare wit, and great general
information. He was a clever magazine writer, and a shrewd
criminal lawyer, and worked hard upon his cases. He and
Col. E. J. C. Kewen, an orator of such rare qualities that he
deserves a place in the niche of fame by the side of Thomas
Starr King and E. D. Baker, were partners for years as
Kewen & Howard. They enjoyed a lucrative criminal prac-
tice.
A vigilance committee, led by a French barber named
Signoret, who was huge in frame, and had a hand like a ham,
and had oratorical ambitions, and preferred revolution to
lawful government, took four men out of the county jail and
hung them. They thought that Kewen & Howard were too
successful in defending criminals, so they passed a resolution
that they should hang Kewen & Howard. The next clay
348 LOS ANGELES
Colonel Howard met Signoret in front of the Downey block.
He had a habit of standing with his feet well apart, and his
head and shoulders bent forward, and of twirling his eye
glasses, which he carried suspended from a long gold chain.
"Signoret," he said, "I understand you are going to hang
Kewen and Howard?" Signoret was perplexed and hedged
a little. "Yes," he answered, "that was our intention last
night." "Come now, Signoret," said Howard, "we are old
friends; be generous, let's compromise. Hang Kewen, he's
the head of the firm. ' '
Some lawyer, I forget who, sued Don Miguel Leonis,
litigious Basque sheep owner, for a $25,000 fee for services
rendered. He was trying his own case before a jury, and
faring badly. Col. Jim Howard, by chance, came into the
courtroom. The plaintiff, in desperation, without consult-
ing Howard, put him on the stand to prove the value of his
services. He stated what he had clone for Leonis, and asked
Howard if, in his opinion, $25,000 was a fair compensation
for services rendered. Howard replied: "My practice has
been of such a vagabond, beggarly nature, that I am hardly
in your class, but if I should earn a $25,000 fee, I would die
of heart failure ; but, knowing you and your legal ability, and
knowing the litigious character of Don Miguel, I cannot real-
ize any services that you could have rendered him that would
be worth over $2.50, unless you had killed him, then, by a
stretch of your conscience, you might have charged him $5.00. ' '
Among the thoroughly able men at the bar was Frank
Ganahl, "Punchinello," as Keller called him. He also was
quick-witted.
He was arguing an appeal in the Superior Court for a de-
fendant, convicted of that most revolting crime, rape. There
is usually some idiot of a lawyer sitting around the courtroom,
whose sole ambition is to sneak up to some lawyer making an
argument, and whisper advice to him. At this time the in-
terferer chanced to be Judge Delos Lake of San Francisco.
He would pluck Ganahl by the coat-tail, and in a stage whis-
per advise him of some point to be made in his argument.
This occurred six or seven times, much to Ganahl's interrup-
tion and annoyance, and he finally said: "Your Honors, my
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 349
friend, Judge Lake, who, by the way, is an eminent authority
on the science and crime of rape, suggests to me this kind
of an argument." Lake made no more suggestions to Ganahl.
Among the lawyers of that day was W. H. Mace, called
"Bulbus" by our friend Keller. He brought an action to
partition one of our great Spanish grants and wrote his com-
plaint on foolscap, writing only on one side of the paper, and
when lie had finished a page he would paste another page on,
and roll up the pages. Glassed, Chapman and Smiths de-
murred to his complaint on the ground that he did not state
facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. Mr. Glassed
presented his point briefly, and sat down. Mace took up his
complaint, which was a roll about sixty feet long, stood up on
a chair, and with a little sort of a giggle, shot the thing-
clear across the courtroom, and holding the last page in his
hand, turning to the court, said: "If that complaint does not
state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, then I
am incapable of drawing one long enough to do so."
The man who could get more pure fun out of the practice
of law than anyone else was Judge Anson Brunson. He was
by far the ablest man here when at his best. He was utterly
reckless when trying his cases, and relied upon his wit and
sheer ability to pull him through. He got into more difficul-
ties, and got more rulings from the Supreme Court on ques-
tions of practice than all the lawyers in California put to-
gether. Mock heroism, pathos and humor, all came naturally
to him, and he could make a little thing look like a mountain,
and a big question shrink off the map by a look, a gesture or
impassioned appeal.
He had demurred to a complaint upon one occasion, and
when the case was called, he said to the court that he would
submit the demurrer without argument. Not so his opponent.
He must argue the question. Vital rights were at stake.
The law must be vindicated. "All right," said Brunson, "I
waive the opening. ' ' Then the other fellow argued everybody
out of the courtroom, and the judge almost off the bench,
with dreary platitudes and citation of authority after author-
ity that did not apply, and when he sat down, Brunson arose,
took a drink of water, shifted his papers, and with a merry
350 LOS ANGELES
twinkle in his black eyes, said in the most aggravating way:
"Your Honor, I still submit the demurrer without argument."
"Demurrer sustained," said the court.
We were trying a case of the Union Anaheim Water Com-
pany against the Stearns Banchos Company, a case involving
water rights at Anaheim. Gen. Volney E. Howard opposed
us. He called as a witness George Hansen, an old-time sur-
veyor who had laid out the town of Anaheim. As the witness
advanced to the stand, General Howard remarked of him,
"The father of Anaheim." He asked him the usual prelimi-
nary questions, and then came this question: "Mr. Hansen,
when did your intercourse with Anaheim begin!" Like a
shot out of a cannon, Brunson was on his feet, with his hand
up, and in a most impassioned manner, full of fire and as-
sumed earnestness, said: "Your Honor, I object. Counsel
cannot incriminate his own witness. He has introduced this
witness as 'The father of Anaheim,' and for the father to
have intercourse with the daughter is incest." "Objection
over-ruled." "Exception," said Brunson, and a looker-on
would, from his manner, have thought that he meant every
word of it.
A carpenter, a worthy man and an Englishman, had an
Irish wife, who was literally a "she devil." Being unable
to stand her daily abuse, he sued her for a divorce, Judge
Ross being his attorney. She came to us for defense. She
owned considerable good real estate in San Francisco, and
we took a mortgage on it to secure our fees. There was
some delay in going to trial. She came to the office daily and
heaped the whole outfit with the vilest abuse. She accused
us of selling her out and taking her husband's money with
the intention of letting her be beaten. We stood it all with
good grace, and diligently prepared the case for trial. It
finally came off. The supporters of the respective parties
were out in full number during the trial.
Daniel Desmond, a hatter, the father, by the way, of Joe
Desmond of aqueduct fame, and C. C. Desmond, one of our
business men, was on the stand, testifying to her general
"cussedness. " He lived next door to her, and was the leader
of the village band. He said that he never got out on his back
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 351
stoop of a quiet summer night, when the orange blossoms
filled the air with fragrance, and the mocking birds were
singing their love songs to their mates, to practice on his
cornet, but what the defendant would line up her children on
the other side of the fence, having each one of them indus-
triously beating a tin can.
Eastman was examining him, and with his most affable
smile, and a wave of bis hand, said, "An opposition band,
Mr. Desmond."
When the trial was ended, the judge denied the plaintiff
his divorce. There was nothing from our client too good for
us then. She came to the office and was all humility, apolo-
gized for her past conduct, and was most effusive in her
congratulations and praise of our efforts. She rushed up to
Judge Brunson and said to him: "Do you know who you
put me in mind of?" "No, I don't," he replied. Realizing
that what she was about to say was sacrilege, she rolled her
eyes, made the sign of the cross, and said, "Of our good Lord
Jesus." She left the office.
Within a week after the trial of this case, our client, the
defendant, dropped dead. Charlie Gould, court room clerk
of the court in which it was tried, met Judge Sepulveda,
before he had heard of it, and said to him: "Judge, God
has overruled one of your decisions." "How!s that?" said
Sepulveda. "Why, you denied Hargitt a divorce, and He has
granted him one. His wife dropped dead this morning."
Shortly afterwards Hargitt administered his wife's estate,
and came around to pay us our mortgage. He paid the money,
and was given a satisfaction of mortgage. Eastman then
put his arm around his shoulders, and walked up and down
the room with him. "Old man, you ought to double that fee,
and then be under lasting obligations to us."
Hargitt said, "Why?" "Well, don't you see, if we had
not successfully defended your action for divorce against
your wife, you never would have had the privilege of admin-
istering her estate, or cutting this pie."
Brunson was a great distinguisher of cases. I believe he
was better at this than even Justice Lucien Shaw when
writing an opinion involving a water right. When you got
352 LOS ANGELES
him "nailed to the cross," as you thought, with a pile of
authorities, all applicable to your case, he would, in an in-
genious way, distinguish them from his case, and waive them
Like many other men of genius, Brunson lacked a balance
wheel. He destroyed the vital forces of his physical system,
deadened all the moral instinct of his nature by indulging in
the worst sort of dissipation. He let power and influence and
standing and character slip from his grasp, and he died long
before his time, as much from the disappointment, which he
keenly felt, as from any physical ailment.
In my own opinion one of the greatest orators who ever
delivered an oration in California and one of the ablest of
her lawyers, was James G. Eastman. He had passed the
meridian of his career before arriving here. He was a better
educated, better read man than Brunson. He had more prac-
tical, common horse sense and was a better judge of men and
of human nature than Brunson.
He had all of Brunson 's vices, and lacked the same virtues
that Brunson lacked. He was not the latter 's equal as a book
read lawyer, but in many other respects he was his superior.
In the case of the People vs. Waller, a murder case, he com-
mitted the indiscretion of spiriting away a witness, was
caught at it, convicted and fined for it. This marked the
beginning of his downfall. His connection with the Hoyle
extradition case brought him still further disrepute. Power-
ful friends of his more prosperous days gradually deserted
him; health failed him; disease rendered him revolting to
look upon, and after wandering the streets of this city by day
and by night for years, a mendicant, he died at the County
Farm, a mental, moral and physical wreck. Like many of
our brilliant men, he paid the penalty of genius.
Here let me pay this tribute to each of these men : I en-
tered Eastman's office in 1873, a young man just from college,
a stranger to the world, and with character unformed. I
came to the office of Brunson and Eastman two years later.
Dissipated as these men were, their advice to me was always
good. They warned me against the evils of drink and de-
bauchery. They pointed out to me the straight and narrow
PROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 353
path. As far as I am concerned, they were teachers of all
that was good and inspiring, no matter how bad an example
they set me, and they were proud of me as a man of good
character and habits, and as long as either of them lived,
rejoiced at my success.
By one of those peculiar political accidents which are con-
stantly occurring, Don Pedro Carrillo, a native Californian
of distinguished family and appearance, but without legal
knowledge or training, was elected justice of the peace in this
city. In fact, his ignorance of the law was so great, his
general understanding so dense, his stupidity so intense, that
had he lived in this age he certainly would have been elevated
to the Supreme Bench, or have been made the head of a law
school.
He had his courtrooms in the second story of a brick
building immediately north of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. The
courtroom was reached by a wooden staircase outside of the
building. The building was owned by the vigilante, Signoret.
Carrillo was not very prompt about paying his rent, and when
ninety days' rent became due, Signoret took off the lower
step of the staircase; ninety days later he took off another
step, and again another, so that at the time I am speaking-
it was quite an acrobatic feat to gain access to "His Honor's
Court." But the judge was ingenious. He got several dry
goods boxes and improvised steps in lieu of those that were
taken away. When he was departing from his daily labor, he
passed the boxes up to his constable, who stored them in the
courtroom, and the constable then shinned down the old
staircase the best way he could. The next morning, with the
justice's assistance the constable mounted the stairs, passed
out the boxes, and the judge then ascended.
His office was run on the fee system, and he was a great
stickler for his fees. He would swear a witness, and then
say, "Hold on a minute; let me charge up that oath." When
duly entered in his register of actions he would allow the
attorneys to proceed. He found out that interpreters were
entitled to pay for their services, so he did the interpreting
himself, allowing himself pay for it.
H. T. Hazard was a member of the firm of Howard &
354 LOS ANGELES
Hazard. He enjoyed a lucrative practice, especially among
the native Califomians. I think the following story concern-
ing him is worth relating: An utterly disreputable fellow
named William Cape, who ran a low saloon and a lower
lodging house, but who was extremely useful at election time
to certain of our politicians because of his peculiar ability to
deliver his ward to his political friends by a much larger ma-
jority than the ward contained residents — Cape hadn't any
property, ran his business from hand to mouth, but nothwith-
standing this fact, he qualified on a bond of $5,000 in a
probate proceeding. The qualification was had before Judge
Albert M. Stephens, who was county judge, with probate
jurisdiction. Knowing the utter financial worthlessness of
the man, the oath surprised Stephens, and he looked the matter
up and charged the man, before the grand jury, with perjury.
He was indicted, convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary.
Hazard took an appeal for him. He was confined in the
county jail. By trade he was a plasterer. He was allowed
the privileges of the place, and he actually plastered all the
old jail building, inside and out, pending his appeal. He even
walked around town occasionally, but he kept faith with his
political friends and the jailer, and was always inside at night
time.
His case was argued by Hazard before the Supreme Court.
Hazard was making very poor headway in getting away from
the facts. "But," he exclaimed, "your Honors, don't you
understand this man signed this bond for the accommodation
of his friend?" "Mr. Hazard," said Chief Justice Wallace,
"do you claim that a man may commit perjury for the ac-
commodation of a friend?"
This was a poser for Hazard which he could hardly get
around. The case was submitted, and Cape continued to be ■
handy man around the jail. When, however, an opinion of
the Supreme Court was filed in San Francisco, affirming the
judgment, the news was telegraphed here, Cape was informed
of it, his cell was left unlocked, and a convenient ladder at
hand. He scaled the jail wall, went to San Pedro, took a
coast vessel for British Columbia, and was never heard of
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 355
again in Los Angeles, and no effort was ever made to retake
him.
I do not make the charge that Mr. Hazard had anything
to do with Cape's escape. Hazard is an honest man, and
would not have done anything involving the slightest moral
turpitude.
In these old days there lived in San Diego a lawyer named
Wallace Leach. He possessed as much ability as all the men
I have previously mentioned combined. Dissipated, but in-
dustrious, with low instincts, yet not lacking in some admir-
able traits of character, he was a queer compound of gall and
vanity. He was about four feet and a half tall, gracefully
built, of fair complexion, with light hair and beard and blue
eyes, neat in his dress, and an extremely good-looking and
intellectual-looking little fellow. I heard him make an argu-
ment in the Supreme Court at Los Angeles in a murder case
from San Diego, which was a most masterly effort. He was
listened to with rapt attention by both court and lawyers
present, and after an impassioned plea, in closing, he briefly
reviewed the circumstances of the killing, the defense being
a plea of self-defense, and I can yet hear as plainly as if it
were yesterday, his last words, which were: "And now,
your Honors, if that be murder, make the most of it."
The attorney-general closed the argument, and Leach left
the courtroom. He was stopping at the St. Charles Hotel.
He went there, and in half an hour was as drunk as a lord,
quarreled with the hotel clerk, borrowed a wheelbarrow from
the porter, piled" his luggage and briefs into the barrow, and
started down the street to the United States Hotel, trundling
the wheelbarrow and leading a yellow dog - by a string.
The Supreme Court rooms were .over the old Farmers
and Merchants Bank Building, and when he came along, Chief
Justice Wallace and myself were standing at the foot of the
stairs, talking, waiting for my carriage, in which we were
going to take a drive. Leach wobbled along, looked up at
Judge Wallace, sat down his wheelbarrow, and called to him :
"Hello, Judge; get on and ride," waving his hand toward
tbe wheelbarrow. The judge declined the invitation, told him
he was so heavy he would break down the barrow. Leach
356 LOS ANGELES
took hold of the handles, started off again, and said, "Oh,
hell! you're not a dead game sport," and went his way.
With all his faults, he was an extremely kind-hearted man.
He and A. B. Hotchkiss of San Diego had a fight in the court
room and were not upon speaking terms. Shortly after this,
a meeting of the Bar Association of San Diego was held. It
took steps to disbar Hotchkiss for accepting a bribe, while
District Attorney, from John G. Downey and Louis Phillips,
in consideration of which he dismissed a tax suit against them.
The Bar appointed Judge Chase, Judge Luce, and I think one
other attorney, to prosecute Hotchkiss. Leach immediately
bounced up, said he believed in fair play, and that, having
appointed a committee to prosecute this unfortunate man, it
was the duty of the bar association to appoint another com-
mittee to defend him. The lawyers present disagreed with
him and declined to appoint such a committee. "All right,"
said Leach, "then I will defend him," and he turned in and
worked on that case as he never worked for any man before.
Judgment was rendered against Hotchkiss in the court below,
and an appeal was taken to the Supreme Court. Judge J. S.
Chapman assisted Leach in this appeal, and on a point sprung
by him — Chapman — namely, that the information against
Hotchkiss had been improperly verified, the Supreme Court
reversed the judgment.
The spasm of virtue which had seized the San Diego Bar
had by this time oozed out, and no further prosecution of the
case was ever had. Before this case was tried, Mr. W. J.
Hunsaker, then a law student in either Chase's or Luce's
office, came to Los Angeles to take the deposition of Louis
Phillips, who was supposed to have paid Hotchkiss the money.
The deposition was to have been taken by Wilse Potts, county
clerk. Hunsaker had subpoenaed Phillips, paying him his
per diem and mileage, and had him in attendance before a
deputy clerk named Charlie Judd, whom Potts had delegated
to act for him, he being engaged before the Board of Super-
visors. Judd was in a constant state of inebriety, and that
day his breath smelled like a still house with the roof blown
off. I appeared, at Leach's request, for Hotchkiss. Phillips
was sworn, and the first question Hunsaker put to him I ob-
PROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 357
jected to on the ground that Hunsaker was not an attorney
of the Superior Court of the State of California, of which
Potts was clerk. Deputy Clerk Judd at once assumed judicial
functions, leered at Hunsaker, and in a thick, husky, alcoholic-
laden voice said, "Mr. Hunsaker, have you been admitted to
this bar?" Hunsaker said he had not. "Then you cannot
practice in this court. Objection sustained," and the hearing
came to an end. Being only too anxious to get away, Phillips
fled, and Hunsaker returned to San Diego, and the deposi-
tion never was taken. I never see or think of Hunsaker but
what I mentally apologize for the outrage perpetrated on him.
I was in the District Courtroom in San Bernadino County
one hot summer day. Some San Diego Jewish merchants
whom Leach represented had attached some cattle in that
county. Certain parties replevined the cattle, claiming to
own them. This claim and delivery action was being tried
before a jury, with the late W., R. McNealy of San Diego
County sitting as judge in San Bernadino County. A local
attorney represented the plaintiff, and Leach the defendant.
All during the trial this attorney tried to bulldoze Leach,
but, figuratively speaking, Leach simply walked all over him.
In his address to the jury, plaintiff's attorney used up all
of his time lambasting the Jews — these Jews in particular,
and all Jews in general. Leach replied to him in a close,
clear, forcible argument, making every point in the case in
a most intelligent and winning manner. He then proceeded
to reply to counsel's attack upon the Jewish race, and he paid
those people the most beautiful tribute that it was ever my
pleasure to listen to. He traced the history of the Jewish
race from its earliest beginning; showed how they had been
persecuted; how they were denied the privilege of owning
real estate, and were compelled to be merchants, possessing
only property which could be moved upon a moment 's notice ;
dwelt upon their many admirable traits of character, and
the high standing that they had attained throughout the
world. He could not, however, resist the chance for a joke,
and suddenly descending from the sublime to the ridiculous,
he said: "And coming down to our own times and our own
people, what other race of men on the face of God's green
358 LOS ANGELES
earth, except the Jews, could sell a forty-dollar suit of clothes
for eight dollars, and get rich at it?"
The jurymen were mostly farmers sitting there with their
coats off, and they literally howled with delight. Judge Mc-
Nealy in vain pounded his desk and rapped for order, and
it was some time before Leach could proceed. A verdict was
promptly rendered, when the case was submitted, in favor
of Leach's clients.
Leach, in a state of intoxication, was thrown from a horse
which he was attempting to ride, and after lingering for some
time, died of his injuries so received.
I cannot leave this subject without paying a slight tribute
to the memory of two of my closest friends, each an intellec-
tual giant — John S. Chapman and Stephen M. White, lately
of the Los Angeles Bar. I was thrown into intimate contact
with both of these men for many years. While in some
respects alike, in others they were utterly dissimilar. They
were alike in the simplicity of their lives and characters.
They never realized their greatness. They were alike in that
each of them had completely mastered the great fundamental
principles of all law and of all justice. They differed in tem-
perament. White was cheerful in demeanor, hopeful, and
always confident; Chapman, gloomy, despondent and fearful
of results. Chapman shrunk from, White sought the applause
of clamoring multitudes. They differed in the manner in
which they applied their vast knowledge of the law to the
practical affairs of men. Chapman acquired his legal knowl-
edge by slow processes and the hardest kind of work. White
acquired his intuitively, but he rounded out his knowledge
of it by close and earnest application. Chapman was the
profoundest, White the most versatile lawyer I ever met.
They were associated together in much important litiga-
tion. Chapman profited by the spur of White's more active
mentality, White by Chapman's closer reasoning powers and
more cautious mental analysis of legal conditions governing
the subject under investigation.
Chapman was the clearest and deepest thinker, White the
most aggressive advocate. White was the master of invective,
Chapman of persuasion. To win a jury, Chapman would not
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 359
stoop to any of the tricks of the demagogue. White would,
but always moved by honest impulses. Chapman enveloped
a jury, just as the rising tide on a peaceful summer sea
envelops the rocks on the shore line — slowly, surely, without
noise, without tumult. White carried all before him, with
irresistible assault, just as the mountain stream, swollen to
undue proportions by torrential rains, sweeps everything
before it to destruction. Chapman relied upon a calm and
dignified appeal to reason; White took a short cut by an
appeal to passion.
They achieved the same results by different processes.
They traversed the profoundest depths of the realms of
thought by routes unknown to other men. We are all better
off for having known these men. They have preceded us to
that mysterious shore we know naught of, Chapman dying
from long continued mental drudgery, and the mental and
physical slavery he had unconsciously yielded to and could
not shake off. White died a victim of unquenchable ambition,
under the stimulus of which he destroyed his health and
wrecked his life. They have left us the living memory of two
kindly, gentle spirits who sprung from the people, raised
themselves through industry and ability to positions at the
bar that any man, in any land or in any age, could well have
envied them.
Contemplating the achievements of these two men, we must
conclude that the human race is still progressing and advanc-
ing in intellectual development. I rejoice that these men
were my friends, that I had their respect and confidence, and
that they loved and trusted me.
Thus concludes Mr. Graves. To begin where he left off
would be to write another chapter of the Bench and Bar of
Los Angeles. But since the characters in such a stoiy would
be those of men now living, it is a matter which can be more
safely left to the future historian when these days in which
we now live are gathered to the dust.
Before the time of Mr. Graves, however, there were in
Los Angeles interesting and distinguished men who were
important in the service of the law and the courts. By ref-
erence to an old record we are able to recall these men to
360 LOS ANGELES
memory, as well as to glean some side lights on their char-
acters.
The first election held in Los Angeles after the admission
of California into the I nion was on April 1, 1850. Three
hundred and seventy-seven votes were cast in the county.
The officers chosen were: County judge, Agustin Olvera;
county clerk, Benj. Davis "Wilson; county attorney, Benj.
Hayes; county surveyor, J. B. Conway; county treasurer,
Manuel Garfias; county assessor, Antonio F. Coronel; county
recorder, Ignacio del Valle; county sheriff, George T. Burrill;
county coroner, Charles B. Cullen.
Don Agustin Olvera, when elected county judge, was
"Juez de la Instancia" — judge of first instance — of the
Los Angeles District, under appointment of Governor Biley.
He emigrated to California from the City of Mexico, and
arrived September 16, 183L There came at the same time
Don Ignacio Coronel, his wife, Dona Francesca Bomero, two
sons, Don Antonio Franco Coronel and Don Manuel Coronel,
and four daughters. They formed a part of the celebrated
expedition of Don Jose Maria Hijar and Don Jose Maria
Padres, which had been organized with infinite care for col-
onization in California, especial view being had to select men
of character, intelligence and some useful occupation.
The expedition consisted of lawyers, physicians, printers,
carpenters, tanners, saddlers, shoemakers, hatters, tailors,
laborers, and a confectioner.
Don Joaquin de los Bios y Bios was a surgeon of repute
in Los Angeles and San Diego for several years after 1840,
until his death. Don Francisco Torres, another physician, re-
turned to Mexico. Don Ignacio Coronel was a schoolmaster,
and taught in Los Angeles for a long time, afterward con-
fining himself to the duties of secretary of the Ayuntamiento :
subsequently he was a justice of the peace.
Education was especially provided for by the Mexican
Government in this colony. The missions had just been secu-
larized; the formation of pueblos was therefore contemplated.
Accordingly, experienced teachers were sent for the public
schools to be established at each mission; which measure took
effect at the Missions of Santa Clara, San Jose, San Gabriel
FKOM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 361
and San Luis Rev; also at Monterey, and in the year 1838 al
Los Angeles.
At the organization, in the year 1841, of the Pueblo of
San Juan de Arguello — so named in honor of Don Santiago
Arguello — which is generally called San Juan Capistrano —
Don Agustin Olvera was appointed "Juez de Paz" of that
jurisdiction, from Santa Ana to Las Flores. He resided there
in 1842, 1843, 1844. It is spoken of as a well ordered place,
with an industrious, contented population. Don Agustin was
admitted as attorney in this, the then First Judicial District,
in 1853, and April' 11, 1855, in the United States District
Court. In 1856 he was the receiver of the Los Angeles United
States Land Office. At the taking of the city by the Ameri-
cans, in 1846, he was a member of the Departmental As-
sembly; and as such member he acted as one of the commis-
sioners in the Cahuenga negotiation, when the Californians
surrendered to Fremont. Don Jose Antonio Carrillo, the
other Mexican commissioner, held the rank of major general.
Don Ignacio Coronel, bom in the City of Mexico, died at Los
Angeles City, at an advanced age, December 19, 1862.
Jonathan R. Scott was the first justice of the peace,
merely taking that office in order to give his ability to the
county organization. He soon tired of it and was succeeded
by J. S. Mallard. Judge Scott had been a prominent lawyer
in Missouri and was in the front rank of the bar at Los An-
geles. He was ready for any useful enterprise. In company
with Mr. Abel Stearns he built the first brick flouring mill in
1855, and about two years before his death he planted an ex-
tensive vineyard. He died September 21, 1864. His eldest
daughter married A. B. Chapman. His only son has recently
been admitted to the bar.
The early lawyers arriving in the order mentioned were :
Don Manuel C. Rojo, 1849; Russell Sackett, 1849; Louis Gran-
ger, 1850; Benj. Hayes, 1850; Jonathan R, Scott, 1850. The
last four, as well as Mr. Hartman, were overland emigrants.
Law books were scarce. A brief passage in "Kent's Com-
mentaries" that was found somewhere in town, decided an in-
teresting case between a rich Peruvian passenger and liberal
French sea-captain, some time in March, before First Alcalde
362 LOS ANGELES
Stearns. The captain lost, but comforted his attorney, Scott,
with a thousand-dollar fee, as it happened, all in five-dollar
gold pieces.
In 1850 also came Wm. G-. Dryden and J. Lancaster Brent,
the latter with a good library; 1851, I. K. S. Ogier; 1852,
Myron Norton, J. H. Lander, Charles E. Carr, Ezra Drown,
Columbus Sims, Kimball H. Dimmick, Henry Hancock, Isaac
Hartman; 1853, Samuel R. Campbell; 1854, Cameron E. Thorn
and James A. Watson (Col. Jack Watson) ; E. J. C. Kewen,
W. W. Hamlin, 1856; Alfred B. Chapman, 1858; Volney E.
Howard, 1861; Andrew J. Glassell and Col. J. G. Howard
arrived on the same steamer, November 27, 1865, from San
Francisco. M. J. Newmark was admitted to the bar in Sep-
tember, and A. J. King in October, 1859 ; Don Ignacio Sepul-
veda, September 6, 1862. Henry T. Hazard, son of Ariel M.
Hazard, of Evanston, near Chicago, since when about eight
years of age, always resided in this city.
Other attorneys prior to 1860 were Hon. S. F. Reynolds
(afterward District Judge of San Francisco), J. R. Gitchell
(in April, 1858, appointed district attorney). A. Thomas,
William E. Pickett, Sasaneuva & Jones advertised December
13, 1851. This was Wm. Claude Jones, known so well in
Missouri. Scott & Hayes were partners from March, 1850,
until April 13, 1852; afterward Scott & Granger; then Scott
& Lander.
Between 1852 and 1860 the land questions before the com-
missioners and United States District Court brought almost
as residents such distinguished lawyers as H. W. Halleck,
A. C. Peachy, F. Billings, C. B. Strode, Wm. Carey Joney,
P. W. Tompkins, Gregory Yale, J. H. Saunders, H. P. Hep-
burn and others.
J. L. Brent stood high as a lawyer and statesman. He
afterwards returned to Louisiana, near New Orleans. Mr.
Granger was a fluent speaker; in 1852-3 partner of Judge
Scott and one time a candidate for judge of the First Judicial
District. General Drown lost his wife in the stranding of
tbe steamer Independence. He died August 17, 1863, leaving
a son — a man much thought of, and very successful in his
profession. Hon. K. H. Dimmick, a captain in Colonel Steven-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 363
son's regiment, had been a member of the Constitutional Con-
vention of 1849. J. H. Landers was born in 1829 in New-
York City. He was a graduate of Harvard. He was an ex-
cellent office lawyer. For a long time he was court commis-
sioner, with especial approbation of the bar. In 1852 he
married Miss Margarita Johnson, a daughter of Don Santiago
Johnson, so well remembered among the early business men
of this coast before 1846. He died June 10, 1873.
S. R. Campbell was born near Nashville, Tennessee, and
died in San Bernardino County early in January, 1863, near
fifty years of age. His memory was most extraordinary. A
poem or oration once read to him he could repeat word for
word years afterward. He was in the habit, when familiarly
illustrating this faculty, to recite in full, page after page of
Blackstone's Commentaries. His son, Thornton P. Campbell,
was a merchant and member of the City Council.
Col. J. A. Watson, in 1855, married Miss Dolores Do-
minguez. He died at this city September 16, 1869, aged forty-
five years. The latter part of his life was devoted to his
vineyard and orchard. He had been a skillful politician and
was esteemed as a lawyer.
Hon. Myron Norton was born in 1822, at Bennington, Ver-
mont. He studied law in New York, was admitted to the bar in
1844, continued in practice at Troy until 1848, when he was ap-
pointed first lieutenant of California volunteers, and in the
summer of that year arrived at Monterey. He was a member
of the Constitutional Convention from San Francisco; after-
ward judge of the Superior Court of San Francisco. In 1855
he was the democratic candidate for judge of the Supreme
Court of this state. He dwelled here in the agreeable- family
of Don Agustin Olvera.
Don Manuel Clemente Rojo, our first abogado (lawyer),
was a native of Peru, of finished education and excellent quali-
ties of the head and heart. He was once sub-political chief of
the frontier of Lower California, and practiced his profes-
sion with marked distinction. An old emigrant named Wil-
liams, throwing out of his wagon almost everything else,
saved his son's law library. They reached John Roland's in
December, 1849, the ambitious young attornev with his eve to
364 LOS ANGELES
the polar star. 'Roland, in his usual liberal style, outfitted,
complete, son and father.
Sheriff Burrill in 1850 was punctilious, perhaps formal,
but affable ; and pleasantly conspicuous by the infantry dress
sword which he wore in public through his term, as he said,
according to official custom of Mexico, where he had lived a
good while. His brother was author of a "Law Glossary."
He was the hero of a "scene in court" one bright afternoon
in the summer of 1850. Judge Witherby was hearing an ap-
plication for bail, on a charge of murder against three native
Californians. The large room was in the old Bella Union
Hotel. Upon a side bench together sat the prisoners. The
judge, Thomas W. Sutherland (acting district, attorney),
Benj. Hayes (county attorney), clerk and counsel, J. Lancaster
Brent; present, none others — save twelve, fierce, determined
fellows, "armed to the teeth," huddled up in the far corner
of the room. Preliminaries disposed of, calm content
smoothed the face of the sheriff, that sword by his side, when
appeared eighteen of the First Dragoons at the critical
moment. They dismounted, tied their horses to the Celis bal-
cony and fell into line in front of the building. Bond ap-
proved, a sergeant led the accused outside, placed them on
horseback between his files, and so conducted them home.
A pin might have been heard to drop, and, in the stillness,
the court adjourned. Maj. E. H. Fitzgerald had encamped
the night before on the edge of the town. This was the posse
put at the service of the sheriff, and that left him pleased
infinitely at its effect, almost like a charm, on this famous
"Irving party" in the corner.
California was admitted into the Union September 9, 1850.
Some of the principal offices, since 1850, have been filled as
follows: District judge — Oliver S. Witherby, three years;
Benjamin Hayes, eleven years; Pablo de la Guerra, Murray
Morrison, R. M. Widney; Ignacio Sepulveda. County judge
— H. K. Dimmick, W. G. Dryden, A. J. King, Ignacio Sepul-
veda; Agustin Olvera, four years; Myron Norton, H. K. S.
O'Melveny, 1876. County clerk— B. D. Wilson, Wilson W.
Jones, C. R. Johnson, John W. Shore, Thomas D. Mott,
Stephen H. Mott, A. W. Potts, 1876. Sheriff— G. T. Burrill,
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 365
David W. Alexander, James R. Barton, W. C. Getman, James
R. Barton (murdered Friday, January 23, 1857, while in
discharge of official duty), Thomas A. Sanchez, James F.
Burns, W. R. Roland ; D. W. Alexander, 1876. Wm. Getman
died January 7, 1858. County treasurer — Manuel Garfias,
now American consul, Tepic, Mexico ; Timothy Foster, Henry
N. Alexander, Morice Kremer, T. E. Rowan ; Francis P. F.
Temple, 1876. District attorney — William C. Ferrel, now a
mountain farmer of Lower California; Isaac S. K. Ogier,
September 29, 1851; Kimball H. Dimmick, appointed July
10th, elected November 29, 1852; Ezra Drown, A. B. Chap-
man, Volney E. Howard, A. B. Chapman, C. E. Thorn; Rod-
ney Hudson, 1876. County assessoi* — Antonio F. Coronel,
1867-1868; 1869-1875, Dionision Beteller; Andrew Ryan, 1876.
County recorder— Ignacio del Valle, 1850-1851 ; J. W. Gillett,
March 1, Monday, 1874; Charles E. Miles, March 1, Monday,
1876. Court commissioner (District) — George Clinton Gibbs.
In 1876 the county officers were : Under sheriff — H. Milner
Mitchell. Deputy sheriffs — Wm. L. Banning, Emil Harris.
Deputy county clerks — E. H. Owen, D. W. Maclellan. Deputy
county treasurer — E. M. Spence. Deputy recorder — George
E. Gard. Auditor— Andronico E. Sepulveda. Tax collector
— Morice Kremer. County surveyor — T. J. Ellis. Deputy
assessors — M. Ryan, W. H. A. Kidd. Coroner — Dr. Joseph
Kurtz. School superintendent — Thomas A. Saxon. Super-
visors — Geo. Hines, Gabriel Allen, Edward Evy, John D.
Young, J. C. Hannon. Justices of the peace (citv) — John
Trafford, Pedro C. Carrillo, William H. Gray.
Don Ignacio Sepulveda, sometime district judge, was a
native of this city. He was educated in the East. Oliver
Spencer Witherby was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, February 19,
1815 ; Bemj. Hayes of Baltimore, Maryland, February 14, 1815 ;
Robern M. Widney, Miami County, Ohio, December 23, 1838.
Don Pablo de la Guerra was born in the Presidio of Santa
Barbara, November 29, 1819. He was State Senator four
terms from the district of Santa Barbara and San Luis
Obispo, and had been a member of the Constitutional Con-
vention of 1849. His term of district judge commenced Jan-
uary 1, 1864. He died February 5, 1874, having a short time
366 LOS ANGELES
before resigned the judgeship of the First District in conse-
quence of ill health.
Hon. Murray Morrison was horn at Kaskaskia, Illinois,
in 1820 ; was admitted to the bar in 1842. In 1862 he married
Miss Jennie White, daughter of Dr. Thomas J. White. In
1868, on the creation of the Seventeenth Judicial District, he
was appointed judge by Governor Haight, and elected in 1869.
He died at this city in 1871. Within three days a loving wife
followed him to the tomb.
Hon. W. G. Dryden, in 1851, married Miss Dolores Nieto.
His second wife was Miss Anita Dominguez; married Sep-
tember 30, 1868. He died at this city, aged 70 years, Septem-
ber 10, 1869.
The board to settle private land claims, organized in this
city October, 1852. The commissioners were Hiland Hall,
later governor of Vermont; Harry I. Thornton, Thompson
Campbell. It expired in 1855. Robert Greenbow first, then
Gen. V. E. Howard, then J. H. McKune, have been law agents
of the United States ; Cameron E. Thorn, assistant law agent
in 1854. In some of the subsequent land cases before the
United States District Court, Isaac Hartman was special at-
torney, in 1857, under. Attorney-General Black, and in 1861,
under Attorney-General Bates. The United States District
Court for the Southern District of California was instituted
in 1855 with Hon. John M. Jones, judge ; Pablo de la Guerra,
marshal; Alfred Wheeler, district attorney; Samuel Flower,
clerk. Judge Jones died November 14th, of that year. In
September, 1854, Edward Hunter was appointed marshal in
place of Pablo de la Guerra, resigned. Judge Ogier succeeded
Judge Jones. Hon. Fletcher M. Haight succeeded Wheeler;
then Pacificus Ord ; then J. R. Gitehell.
Hon. Isaac Stockton Keith Ogier, for several years judge,
was born at Charleston, South Carolina, May 24, 1817. He
came to California in the year 1849. He died at Holcombe
Valley, May 21, 1861.
CHAPTER XVII
THE CITY'S BREATHING SPOTS.
No city in the world has given or continues to give more
earnest consideration, backed up by action, to the question
of parks and playgrounds and recreation places for the peo-
ple, than Los Angeles.
This has been true of Los Angeles from its very inception
as a human habitation. It was a's we have here related, a
Spanish settlement. And the Spaniard, wherever he built a
town, at home or abroad, never failed, as almost his first act,
to create a plaza or park in that town which was designed
to be the common property of the people for their pleasure
and recreation.
Los Angeles was no exception. When in the fateful year
of 1781 Don Felipe de Neve, the gobernador, marched out
from the Mission of San Gabriel to found the pueblo of Our
Lady the Queen of the Angels, he had in the pocket of his
military coat a drawn plan of the new settlement ; and in that
plan provision was made, first of all, for the plaza, a part
of which remains to this day, in Los Angeles, as a public
park.
And to this day you will see in the Plaza of Los Angeles a
great deal of what remains here of the once dominant Span-
ish race. And intermingling with those of the blood of Spain
you will see the swart faces of the people of other Latin
lands, as well as those who have drifted hither from the Orient
and Cathay.
In the old days, when the Plaza was the only public park
of which Los Angeles boasted, it was the scene of all public
gatherings, and especially was it the scene of the great re-
ligious processions and celebrations for which the city was
famous. It stands at the door of the Church of Our Lady of
the Angels, where the people went to pray and to be shrived
367
368 LOS ANGELES
to hear the mass on Sundays and holy days. And it was out
of the door of that old church into the open and common
ground of the Plaza that the religious processions of the old
times came.
That we may have an idea of what these great religious
celebrations were like, let us quote a description of the cele-
bration of the feast of Corpus Christi in the year 1858 as
published in the columns of the famous old Los Angeles Star :
"Immediately after Pontifical Vespers, which were held in
the church at 4 p. m., a solemn procession was formed which
made the circuit of the Plaza, stopping at the various altars
which with great cost, elegance and taste had been erected
in front of the houses where the sacred offices of the church
were solemnly performed. The order of the procession was
as follows : Music, Young Ladies of the Sisters' School bear-
ing the banner of the school, followed by the children of the
school to the number of 120 in two ranks. They were ele-
gantly dressed in white, wearing white veils and carrying
baskets filled with flowers which during the procession were
scattered before the Bishop and the clergy. Next came the
boys of the church choir. Then twelve men bearing candles ;
these represented the twelve apostles. Then came Father
Eaho and Bishop Amat, bearing the Blessed Sacrament, sup-
ported on each side by the clergy, marching under a gor-
geous canopy carried by four prominent citizens. These were
followed by a long procession of men, women and children
marching two and two. The procession was escorted by the
Calfornia Lancers, Captain Juan Sepulveda commanding, and
the Southern Rifles, Captain W. W. Twist in command.
"Very elaborate and costly preparations had been made
by the citizens resident on the Plaza for the reception of the
Holy Eucharist ; among the most prominent of which we no-
tice the residence of Don Jesus Domingua, Don Ignacio del
Valle, Don Vincente Lugo and Don Augustin Olvera. These
altars were elegantly designed and tastefully decorated, being
ornamented with laces, silks, satins and diamonds. In front
of each the procession stopped whilst sacred offices appropri-
ate to the occasion were performed.
"Having made the circuit of the Plaza, the procession re-
370 LOS ANGELES
turned to the church, where the services were concluded, after
which the immense assemblage dispersed, and the military
escorted the young ladies of the Sisters' School on their re-
turn home. ' '
Those old days are no more. Los Angeles is a changed
town since those days. And yet, it seems that something of
these old traditions will always remain with us. The parks
of Los Angeles now multiplied many fold from their old
mother, the Plaza, are often the scenes of civic celebrations,
and it is not a severe strain on the imagination to picture
them as again being the scenes of religious celebrations.
At the time that this book is written, the parks of Los
Angeles, under charge and in the care of the City Park Com-
mission, with our distinguished and highly useful fellow cit-
izen, Madame Leafie Sloan-Orcutt as the commission's ruling
spirit, are as follows:
Elysian Park. — This park is what is commonly known as
a rural or country park and the greater portion of same is a
part of the original lands of the Pueblo of Los Angeles. Sev-
eral small parcels have been acquired from time to time
through purchases. It was dedicated for park purposes in
March, 1886. The total area is 748 acres. ' Location : North
Broadway, Park Drive, Valley View and Casanova streets.
The improvements consist of about 7V 2 miles of scenic drive,
5 miles of foot trails, 8 miles of water lines and very ex-
tensive tree planting, consisting of the reforestation of about
being that portion around tbe entrance near the North Broad-
500 acres. The section of the park known as ' ' Fremont Gate, ' '
way bridge, is improved with lawn, flower beds, shrubbery,
trees and walks. The nursery and service yard of the de-
partment are also located in this park. A small portion of the
park was set aside and dedicated as a memorial grove for the
permanent planting of trees in honor of persons who sac-
rificed their lives in the great World war. Small bronze tablets
are placed at the base of each tree. These tablets show the
name of the person in whose honor the tree was planted, mil-
itary record and date of death. When the trees attain a
sufficient growth, these tablets will be placed on the trunks as
permanent records.
372 LOS ANGELES
Exposition Park. — This park is one of the largest of the
neighborhood parks. It was acquired by lease in 1911 for a
term of fifty years from the Sixth District Agricultural As-
sociation and the State of California, and by purchase under
condemnation proceedings in 1912. The area is 114 acres.
It is located on Exposition Boulevard, Figueroa Street and
Menlo Avenue. The southern boundary line extends 142 feet
north from Santa Barbara Avenue. Improvements consist
of two bowling greens, roque courts, rose garden, sunken gar-
den, herbaceous border, California wild flower garden, band
stand, picnic grounds, ornamental lighting system, toilet
buildings, walks, drives, trees, etc., eight tennis courts, three
baseball diamonds, football field and two swimming pools.
The Government Armory, State Exposition Building and Mu-
seum of History, Science and Art are located in this park.
Griffith Park. — This is the second largest municipal park
in the United States. Acquired by deed of gift from Griffith
Jenkins Griffith, March 5, 1898. Area, 3,051.75 acres. Loca-
tion between the Los Angeles Biver and a line one-half mile
north of and parallel to Los Feliz Avenue. There has been
added to this park a parcel of land twelve acres in extent
which was acquired by purchase through condemnation pro-
ceedings in 1915 for an entrance to the park from Western
Avenue. Also a parcel consisting of 24.75 acres, which was
donated by Colonel Griffith in 1918, making a total area of
3,051.75 acres. The improvements consist of about 15 miles
of scenic drive, 12 miles of water line, 5 miles of bridle trails,
a full 18-hole golf course, with a field house containing locker,
showers, dining rooms, kitchen and rest rooms. The Zoo of
the department is also located in this park. Becently a play-
ground for small children was installed, together with tennis
courts for adults.
Hollenbeck Park. — Acquired by donation from Mr. W. H.
Workman and Mrs. Elizabeth Hollenbeck January 16, 1892.
Area, 21.74 acres. Location, East Fourth Street, St. Louis
Street, Boyle Avenue and Cummings Street. Improvements
consist of boathouse, tennis courts, walks, flowers, trees and
shrubs. An ornamental lighting system was completed this
vear.
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 373
Lafayette Park. — Acquired by donation from Mrs. Clara
R. Shatto, December 4, 1899. Area, eleven acres. Location,
Sixth Street, Commonwealth Avenue and Benton Way. Ten-
nis court, walks, trees, shrubs, lily pool. This park also con-
tains playground apparatus for small children.
Lincoln Paek. — Acquired by purchase March 11, 1881,
from the Southern Pacific Company. Purchase price, $448.64.
Dedicated for park purposes August 18, 1883. Location, Mis-
sion Road and Alhambra Avenue. Improvements are con-
servatory containing large collection of rare plants, boat-
house, double tennis courts, corral, shrubbery and picnic
grounds. The park also contains an ornamental lighting sys-
tem, bungalow rest room and an artistic lattice sun shade in
front of band stand.
Pershing Square is a part of the original lands of the
Pueblo of Los Angeles. Dedicated for park purposes in 1866.
Area is four acres. Location, Hill, Sixth, Olive and Fifth
streets, in business district of city. Extensively improved
with lawn, trees and shrubs. Seating capacity on walks for
several thousand people.
South Park. — Acquired by purchase January 30, 1899.
Purchase price was $10,000. Area, nineteen acres. Location,
South Park Avenue, Fifty-first and San Pedro streets. Con-
tains tennis courts, lawns, flowers, trees and also playground
apparatus for children.
Sycamore Grove. — Acquired by purchase in 1905 for $22,-
500 and part by donation from Mr. E. R. Brainerd in 1907.
Records do not show amount in acres acquired by purchase
and donation. Total area is 15.44 acres. Location, Forty-
eighth and Pasadena Avenue.
Westlake Park. — Acquired by the City of Los Angeles
through an exchange in 1866. Area, 32.15 acres. Location,
Seventh, Park View, Sixth and Alvarado streets. Contains
boathouse, tool house, picnic grounds, lawn, trees. The orna-
mental lighting system and the boathouse building constructed
in this park cost approximately $22,000. Park contains also
playgrounds for children.
Camp Grounds. — Los Angeles provides a camping ground
for automobile tourists. Accommodations consist of gas
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 375
stoves for cooking, hot and cold shower baths, toilets, lavato-
ries and laundry trays. Grounds are lighted by electricity and
individual stalls provided for each automobile and car.
Emergency kits for use in case of accidents are provided
in all parks, and employes are instructed in the proper use
of the same. Through the efforts of Mrs. Sloan-Orcutt, play-
ground apparatus such as swings, teeters, sand boxes, etc., are
now provided in practically all the parks for the amusement
and entertainment of children. Band concerts are held in
Lincoln Park on every Sunday and holiday, and in many of
the other parks concerts are given on special occasions.
CHAPTER XVIII
MUSIC AND ART
There is a lilting cadence of music in the very sound of the
word "California." For ages California has been musical —
since the murmuring waves of the Pacific first sang their love
songs to its shining shores, or, in their fury, when the great
sea-breakers broke in mighty diapason of Wagnerian thunder
against the rocks. In succession, the love songs and the war
chants of the aborigines echoed along the shore or died
away in the distance toward the mountains, followed by the
Gregorian chants of the padres, the boisterous war songs of
the Spanish musketeers, the seductive strains of the caballero
serenading his lady love, or the quickening music of the fan-
dango, and later, when the Gringo came, the roistering song
of the miner, the hymn and the ballad of the home-seeker,
the music of the bank, the choir, the orchestra, and even the
aria of the grand opera found their way into all parts of
California.
The meadow lark and the mocking bird added their notes
to the ripples of the stream, or were drowned in the rush of
the torrents. The stately firs on the mountain side in turn
sang the requiem of the Indian, the priest, the cavalier, the
soldier, the Spaniard, the Mexican, as well as the Americano.
California has been musical from its creation.
Unlike architecture, sculpture and painting, music is nec-
essarily ephemeral in its material form, and we therefore
possess no specimen to acquaint us with its character during
remote periods, yet something tangible bears witness to the
fact that it has been cultivated in some form from time im-
memorial, even among the most uncivilized races of men.
We trace its existence through the beautiful philosophies
and mythologies of the Greeks ; we have its mysterious powers
symbolized in the Homeric legends of the sirens whose sweet
376
378 LOS ANGELES
songs lured the ill-fated mariners to destruction; we find its
image engraved upon the ancient tombs and obelisks of Egypt,
everywhere gilding the twilight of antiquity with its sug-
gestive presence.
Other nations knew the Ambrosian songs under Constan-
tine, and the Gregorian music of Gregory I. Even Charle-
magne conducted the choir at Aix in person. King Robert of
France was a favored writer and singer of sequences. The
Crusaders sang martial music, and the folk songs and the
music of the passion plays and the mysteries of the churches
gradually gave way to the musical art of the troubadours and
the minnesingers, who in like manner were succeeded by the
meistersingers, and so music improved until the rise of the
opera, the oratorio, and the symphony brought to the dawn
of the nineteenth century a perfection which gradually found
its way to the Pacific Coast.
Charles F. Lummis has made a collection of several hun-
dred Indian chants, war songs, religious songs, and, in a way,
folk songs of the various tribes inhabiting California in the
early days. These songs have been handed down from gen-
eration to generation, and although they may have lost some
of their beauty and originality, they show distinctiveness of
tribal ability and rhythm. The same thing can apply to many
of the compositions found in the libraries of the old Fran-
ciscan missions, and so we trace the music of California in
this manner down to the Spanish occupation, the gradual cor-
ruption of their music with the varied intonations of the
intermixture of the Indian with the Spanish race, which dis-
turbed the beauty and the purity of the Spanish tongue and
music.
The first grand opera in the State of California was in
1847 when the Alvarez Grand Opera Company came from
Lima, Peru, on a lumber vessel, lured to the camp of San
Francisco by the munificent subscription of $10,000, the first
guarantee for grand opera ever given in the history of Cali-
fornia. Since that time grand opera has played an important
part in the musical history of Los Angeles and Sacramento.
The first piano recital of note in San Francisco was by
Henri Hertz in 1850, and among the early artists heard in
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 379
the northern metropolis, as well as in Los Angeles, were
Camilla Urso, Carlotta Patti, Ole Bull, Scalshi, Trebelli the
elder, Emma Nevada, Sarasate, Giannini, Wilhelm Cherubini,
Marsick, Ondricek, Lechaume, Adelina Patti, Vincenzo Vil-
lani, Etelka Gerster, Tomagno and Amalia Materno.
San Francisco had symphony music long before Los An-
geles had it— as early as 1865— and among the well known
directors were Louis Schmidt, Oscar Weil, Rudolph Herold,
Gustav Hinrichs and Adolph Mauer; while Los Angeles had
among its conductors A. J. Stamm, "Wenzel Kopta, Adolph
Wilhartitz, Henry Schoenefeld, Harley Hamilton, and, among
the more modern California conductors, may be found Dr. J.
Fred Wolle, Paul Steindorff, Fritz Scheel* Henry Holmes,
Henry Hadley, Alfred Hertz, Adolph Tandler and Walter
Henry Rothwell.
The early history of choral music in Los Angeles includes
such splendid names as Mrs. Girah D. Cole and Mrs. M. A.
Larrabee of the Treble Clef Club; Charles S. Walton, con-
ductor of the Ellis Club ; Mr. C. Modini-Wood, Mr. Robert E.
Paulsen, of the Apollo Club, and later J. B. Poulin, Joseph
Dupuy and John Smallman. The history of the Treble Clef
Club, the Apollo Club, Orpheus, Ellis and Lyric clubs of
Los Angeles, the Grove Play of the Bohemian Club of San
Francisco, the annual oratorios given under the direction of
Paul Steindorff at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, and the
Loring Club of San Francisco, includes the majority of the
choral endeavors of these sections.
The state and cities of California have probably witnessed
more grand opera and light opera than any other states and
cities of the Union excepting New York, Boston, Chicago, and
possibly New Orleans.
In the early days visits were made here by the Emma
Abbott and the Emma Jueh Grand Opera Companies, the
Nellie Melba and the Ellis Grand Opera Companies, the Hess
English Grand Opera Company and the Bostonians.
Theodore Thomas came to California with the National
Opera Company in 1887, presenting Rubinstein's "Nero" in
his repertoire. Later came the Metropolitan Opera Company
with the world's greatest stars; the Del Conte Grand Opera,
380 LOS ANGELES
the Lombardi Italian Opera Company, Charles M. Pyke's
English Opera Company, Jules Grau, light opera; the W. T.
Carlton, the Duss Opera Company, the Sembrich Grand Opera
Company, the San Carlo Grand Opera, the Chicago Grand
Opera with its many stars, Mary Garden singing "Natoma"
for the first time on the Pacific Coast, the words by Joseph
Redding of San Francisco and the scene laid in Santa Bar-
bara; the Boston Grand Opera Company and the La Scala
Grand Opera Company, all vying with one another to obtain
the golden coin of California in exchange for the golden notes
of the voices of many nations.
San Francisco has the unique distinction of twenty years
of continuous light and grand opera at the most popular
theater of that city, the Tivoli, which dates back to 1875 when
Joe Kreling conceived the idea of opening a place of cheap
amusement for the people where the music presented should
be of the best order, where prices should be low, enabling
families to seek diversion at little cost. It was there that
Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pinafore" was first produced in the
West, and where it enjoyed a run of eighty-four nights.
"Bohemian Girl" had to its credit 157 nights; "Ship Ahoy,"
108; "Olivet," 133; "Fra Diavolo," 72. The Gilbert & Sul-
livan operas, combined, ran 691 night, including 14 operas.
The Tivoli was the most democratic house of amusement
in the world, and it discovered many of the singers who were
heard in the "West before making names for themselves in
the East, including the famous Luisa Tetrazzini, Alice Niel-
sen, Sybil Sanderson, Agostini, Galozzi, Salassi, Collamarini,
Sestegui, Beatrice Franco, Maud Fay and others.
On October 14, 1897, operatic history was made in the
Los Angeles Theatre in Los Angeles. Puccini's celebrated
"La Boheme" was sung for the first time in America by the
Del Conte Grand Opera Company of Milan, with Giuseppe
Agostini as Rudolfo, Luigi Francesconi as Schaunard, An-
tonio Fumagali as Benoit, Cesar Cioni as Marcello the painter,
Victorio Girardi as Colline the philosopher, Linda Montanari
as Mimi, and Cleopatra Vicini as Musette. It was afterwards
repeated at the Saturday matinee on October 16th and made
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 381
such an impression that it was sung again by the same com-
pany on October 19th.
In 1901, at the old Hazzard Pavilion in Los Angeles, the
Metropolitan Grand Opera Company sang "La Boheme" for
the first time with Mine. Nellie Melba as Mimi and Fritzi
Scheff as Musette.
On July 1, 2 and 3, 1915, and the following week, "Fairy-
land," the Horatio Parker prize opera, was presented for tbe
first time on any stage, under the direction of the composer,
with Mareella Craft as Rosamond. Alfred Hertz presided as
conductor of orchestra, chorus and opera.
Los Angeles has made great strides musically in the last
quarter of a century. It has enjoyed the Los Angeles Sym-
phony for twenty-three years, and recently the Philharmonic
Orchestra of Los Angeles has been created through the gen-
erosity of W. A. Clark, Jr., who v has not only endowed the
organization for a number of years, but bas builded it with
the idea of its becoming the representative symphonic organ-
ization of America. Walter Henry Rothwell, the eminent con-
ductor, was called to the position of conductor, which he is
filling with great ability and success.
Alfred Hertz has been the conductor for the past five
years of the San Francisco Symphony organization, and has
brought that orchestra to a most prominent position in the
musical world of the West.
The Lyric Club of Los Angeles, a woman's organization,
and the Ellis Club, a men's organization, are two very ex-
ceptional singing bodies under the conductorship of J. P.
Poulin. The Orpheus Club, a male organization of young
men, under the direction of Joseph Dupuy, won the $3,000
prize at the Music Festival in San Francisco in 1915.
No honest record of musical Los Angeles can possibly be
made without taking into account one great human figure who
has been the heart and soul of things musical here for many
a year, and whose genius at the present day dominates the
whole field of that art. This man is L. E. Behymer, through
whose courage, faith and persistence and long personal sacri-
fice Los Angeles has had brought to its gates, and within its
gates, the very best that music has had to give.
382 LOS ANGELES
Whenever the word "music" is mentioned in Los Angeles
one must think of L. E. Behymer. And, happily, the high
esteem in which he is held in his own community, and the
deep love and affection which that community has for him,
is the best reward of his long and tireless efforts in behalf
of the art of music which has been throughout his whole life
as the breath of his nostrils. Los Angeles well knows what
Mr. Behymer has done for her, and it is not an ungrateful
city. Happily, also, Mr. Behymer is as well a prophet outside
of his own country. He is known afar, wherever the world of
music and art exists. He is the honorary president of the
National Concert Managers' Association of America; the
Government of France has conferred upon him the well-
deserved decoration of The Palms, and has elected him an
officer of the French Academy of Public Instruction. At
home he has long been the president of the Gamut Club and
the great guiding spirit of the Philharmonic Orchestra. If
you were to make a list of his friends in his home city, it
would include its entire population. And if you were to make
a list of his friends abroad it would include all the great
names of the musical world and of many a wandering minstrel
not so well known to fame, for even these have found in Mr.
Behymer a sympathetic and helpful friend.
As the sister art of music whose home is also the mimic
stage, the drama in Los Angeles has fared to high distinction.
Here we have one of the two great plays that has stood the
test of time and has achieved a world-wide and lasting repu-
tation as a permanent institution — the Mission Play. The
other great play referred to is the Passion Play of Ober-
ammergau. Indeed, the Mission Play is often spoken of as
the " Oberamniergau of America," although the Mission Play
tells another story. The only similarity between the two pro-
ductions is the high note of religions faith common to both.
The play was produced for the first time April 29, 1912,
in a specially constructed theater at the old Mission of San
Gabriel under the direction of Henry Kabierske, originally of
Breslau, Germany, a pageant-master and artist of world-wide
celebrity. The initial productions of the play were held under
the patronage of the Princess Lazarovich-Hrebrelanovich of
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 383
Servia (Eleanor Calhoun of California), who embodied the
role of "Donna Josef a." The "King's Highway" (El
Camino Real) depicting in miniature the twenty-one old Fran-
ciscan missions, is the embodiment of the creative ideas of
Ida L. McGroarty, wife of the author of the Mission Play.
The execution of these ideas was performed under Mr. Ka-
bierske's designs and direction.
The scenes of the first act of the Mission Play are laid
on the shores of San Diego Bay in the year 1769, "when Cali-
fornia began." The stage settings show the lovely Harbor
of the Sun, with Point Loma shouldering out to sea. An old
Spanish galleon rocks gently at anchor. The rude huts of the
Spaniards stand under Presidio Hill. A guard of Cata-
lonian soldiers sits lazily about and the dialogue brings out
the story of the hardships and hopelessness of the situation.
The return of Portola from his fruitless search of Monterey
has been awaited for weary months. The settlement is pa-
thetically worn with sickness and is on the verge of utter
starvation. Father Junipero Serra, the immortal founder of
the Missions, appears early in this act and at once takes his
place as the commanding figure of the play, as he was the
commanding figure in history for the first sixteen years of
the establishment of his immortal dream of a Christian Cali-
fornia. On this day Portola returns, his expedition in a
pitiful condition. As the full knowledge of the awful situa-
tion dawns upon him, Portola gives orders for the people to
board the ship in the harbor and sail back to Mexico with
the tide at night. California is to be abandoned. Father
Serra begs and pleads with Portola to retract his orders, but
the gubemador is obdurate. Then Father Serra ascends the
old brown hill and prays for a ship to come to the relief of
starving San Diego. Everybody regards him with the most
profound pity, while the preparations for departure are being
feverishly prosecuted. The day passes. But just as the sun
is setting in a flame of splendor across the waters, the white
speck of a sail is seen rounding Point Loma. The sail grows
larger and larger. In the gathering darkness great shouts
of joy are heard. San Diego is saved as though by a miracle.
The second act is laid at Carmel Mission, across the green.
384 LOS ANGELES
pine-clad hill of Monterey. The matchless old church, with
the great patio that once surrounded it, stands forth in the
glory of the break of day. The act is projected to typify a
day in the life of the missions at a time when at the zenith of
their success. A wonderful pageant of Indians have been
brought out of savagery into the full stature of civilized men.
They work at their trades, their arts and crafts. At noon a
holiday is declared and the second part of the act is given
over to Indian dances and games and to Spanish dancing of a
most fascinating order. Spanish music, which is used
throughout the whole performance, is here made doubly fas-
cinating. At the end of the act the same scene that unfolded
itself from the grey dawn slips away in the gorgeous sunset ;
and the last we see of beautiful Carmelo is the white loveli-
ness of it all under the witchery of the moonlight.
The third act is laid at San Juan Capistrano, showing the
old mission in ruins as it stands today. In this act the author
brings out the sad story of spoliation and secularization. The
padres are gone. The Indians are outcasts from the missions.
The appearance of Americans in the life of California is por-
trayed. The act depicts the tragedy of a great drama which
has been cruelly broken, but the tragedy is softened and
sweetened by human faith and love in God.
The leading role of the Mission Play, "Fray Junipero
Serra," was essayed the first and second seasons of the play
by Mr. Benjamin Horning; in 1914-15 by Mr. George Os-
bourne ; in 1916 by Mr. Wilfred Roger ; in 1917 by Mr. Tyrone
Power; in 1918 by Mr. Norval MacGregor; and in 1919-20 by
Mr. Frederick Warde. In the play are many native Cali-
fornia Indians, lineal descendants of the neophytes who were
civilized and Christianized by the pioneer missionary fathers
a century and a half ago. The Spanish singers and dancers
of the play, as well as a full two-thirds of the whole great
cast of 100 players, are natives and descendants of the old
Spanish families of California.
The Mission Play, at the time this book is written, has
been given regularly at the old Mission of San Gabriel for
a season every year during ten consecutive years, and was
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA ' 385
approaching its 1600th performance, perhaps the greatest
record ever achieved in the history of the dramatic art.
Famous actors, and companies of actors, including a well-
beloved barnstormer and mummer dear to memory, have vis-
ited Los Angeles from time immemorial, their performances
ranging from Punch and Judy shows to Shakespeare, some-
times with no roof over their heads except our faithful blue
sky, or on finding such shelter as a friendly barn, a dance
hall and even a bar room might give them.
But there came a day, and it now seems a long time ago,
too, when the drama was given housing such as it deserved in
Los Angeles. The old Grand Opera House on Main Street
ranked in its day with the fine theaters of America. Then
others were builded, and now it would seem that we have more
theaters than any other city, anywhere.
Moreover, Los Angeles has come at last to rank with New
York as a producing center of the drama. And this is due
solely to the very striking enterprise, perseverance, courage
and exceptional ability of one man. This man is Oliver
Morosco.
At the time this book is written, Oliver Morosco stands as
a dominating figure in the theatrical world of America. It is
said that his father was a circus man, and from this we can
see that the "show business" came naturally to Mr. Morosco.
When he was a mere boy he managed his own theater in Los
Angeles, and for many years he maintained the old Burbank
as a high-class theatrical institution in this city. It is safe to
say that no man in America, not excepting Augustin Daly,
either of the Frohmans or the latter day Schuberts, have in
recent years produced anywhere near the number of new
dramas that Mr. Morosco has produced. He combines in him-
self that rare affiliation of business ability and fine artistic
temperament. He is a man whom failure could uot daunt.
He overcame failure and has fought his way with a clogged
determination, supported always by a high vision, to the very
topmost pinnacle of success in that artistic world to which
he became heir in his youth.
Los Angeles also owes a great deal in a dramatic way to
Vol. 1—25
386 LOS ANGELES
the Wyatts, both father and son. The community is indebted
immeasurably to W. T. Wyatt, at this writing still manager
of the Mason Opera House, for tangible realizations of the
best that the art of the drama has been able to afford.
And, last but not least, of things theatrical, that species of
it which its votaries call the "Cinema Art," which commer-
cially is catalogued as the "Motion Picture Industry," and
Trinity Auditorium
which in the vernacular of the day is popularly and lovingly
known as the "Movies," has come to make Los Angeles its
world center.
The man who sits in the theater in Patagonia, or in Tahiti,
or Hong Kong, or Oshkosh, or anywhere upon the swinging
earth, to view a motion picture, finds himself looking into
Southern California canyons, the shores of Santa Monica and
the suburbs of Hollywood.
Los Angeles is the home — the permanent home — of the
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 387
world celebrities of the movies. Here is the habitat of the
best known man in existence, namely, Mr. Charlie Chaplin.
Here also reside Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Bill
Hart, Norma Talmadge, a thousand and one other "movie"
celebrities of both sexes, and countless thousands of others
not yet shooting- through the movie heavens as stars, but
plodding along and always hoping for the best.
Speaking of the "movies" in dollars, we are frank to say
that it is a subject we have not the courage to approach.
While it is certain that the industry, speaking of it as such,
involves annually the expenditure of many, many millions of
dollars in Los Angeles, we are still faced by the claims of the
"movies" themselves concerning their financial gyrations,
and this would total — if such claims be admitted — more money
than the world has ever known and a sum total greater than
the national debts of all the nations of the world combined.
Now, all these tilings having been said concerning music
and art in Los Angeles, there remains for us only to say that
art, as applied to painters and sculptors, has but a brief his-
tory here. It is not more than fifteen years ago that anything
approaching an organization of artists was accomplished here.
But we now have many artists, several of whom have acquired
national fame and many others who give great hope for the
future.
Summing the whole subject up., there would seem to be
justification for the prediction that Los Angeles is some day
destined to be one of the world's great centers of music
and art.
CHAPTER XIX
A GREAT ORGANIZATION
The making of any city is a tale that cannot fail to prove
to be of the most fascinating interest. Next to the growing
of a man the growing of a city is the great story.
We have endeavored to set forth in these pages the some-
what pathetic beginnings of the pueblo of Our Lady of the
Queen of the Angels, which is now the wonder City of Los
Angeles. We have told with what discouragement the com-
munity began its uncertain career more than a century ago,
and we have tried to show that for many and many a year
Los Angeles was a community with little pride of ancestry
and far less hope for its posterity.
But now Los Angeles stands among the great cities of the
world, and nowhere is it questioned that it is destined to be-
come the towering metropolis of Western America.
And how did all this come to be? By what magic was
this wonderful achievement wrought ? We have seen that there
were no fortuitous natural advantages to favor Los Angeles
in the splendid struggle it has made for a place in the sun.
We have seen that no soothsayer or seer ever predicted great-
ness for it. It is a city that had to fight its way, step by step
and inch by inch, up the rough and rocky roads of progress.
There is a saying that man made the cities but that God
made the country. Well, it was men that made Los Angeles —
patient men, toiling men, men of dreams and men of visions.
More than thirty years ago there was formed in the city
of Los Angeles a brave, determined and broad-visioned body
of men into an organization known today as the "Los Angeles
Chamber of Commerce." In the achievements of this organ-
ization is archived and recorded the making of Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce is an organiza-
tion that has a distinctiveness enjoyed by few commercial
Panorama of the Los Angeles op Today
Looking North on Broadway From Eighth Street
390 • LOS ANGELES
bodies, if any, of the larger cities of the world. While the
name indicates that its activities might be confined to purely
trade enterprises, this is not the case. Its variety of work
has been extraordinary. This may be attributed to the wide
range of its membership which includes retailers, whole-
salers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, ministers, teachers,
writers, manufacturers, horticulturalists, printers, railway
men, bankers, public officials and public-spirited women.
Practically all questions relating to the general welfare
of Southern California and the nation are brought to the
consideration of the chamber. Horticulture, mining, manu-
facturing, live stock, commerce, entertainment and various
lines of community endeavor are included in the activities of
the organization. General business interests, legislative mat-
ters, publications, advertising the- country, exhibits and
various entertainments, manufacturing, development of com-
merce — both domestic and overseas — supplying information
about the country, local public improvements, such as good
roads, water works, etc., and various other human activities
have been functioned by the Los Angeles Chamber of Com-
merce.
To meet the growing demands as the city increased in
population and extent of its enterprises, the work of the
chamber was segregated into departments. These now may
be classed as executive — over which the president has juris-
diction and of which the secretary is the administrative
officer; the secretary also exercises supervisory direction of
the various departments, which include : Industrial, Foreign
Trade, Agricultural, Meteorological and Aeronautical, Pub-
licity, Membership, Tourist Housing, Poultry, and Informa-
tion. The functions of these departments are largely indi-
cated by their names. Each is in charge of a manager.
The policy of the chamber, its action on public questions
and its attitude in matters of national importance, are de-
termined by the board of directors. Years ago it was learned
that large bodies are unwieldy in decisions upon questions
of public moment. Instead of opinion being crystallized,
long debates were developed with the result that the members
decided to empower the board of directors to speak with
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 391
authority for the entire organization; reserving, however,
for the membership the privilege of a referendum vote on
all decisions of the board of directors that might be protested.
Probably the outstanding features of community develop-
ment, the consummation of which is generally credited to the
activity of the chamber, are the Los Angeles Aqueduct, the
development of a man-made harbor at San Pedro and the
construction of the finest system of good roads in the United
States.
For many years the membership of the organization stood
first in the country in proportion to the population. The
chamber was credited with taking the lead in constructive
enterprises in more avenues of community development than
any other similar organization in the country. Its enterprise
has been an inspiration to similar organizations in other cities.
Scores of them have been organized and are conducted along
the lines identical with the Los Angeles Chamber.
Los Angeles has been called "The City Advertising Built."
Mr. Morris M. Rathbun, writing in Collier's a few years ago,
used that phrase for the heading and told of a city that was
built by a chamber of commerce — which chamber of com-
merce revolved about a single dominating personality. This
personality is Frank Wiggins, secretary of the organization
for the past twenty-five years and identified with its activities
for thirty years.
The big work of the early days of the organization was
community exploitation. It was realized that the climate was
here, the soil was here, and other fundamentals for sustaining
a prosperous population, and that the chief need was home-
seekers of the right sort. The exploitation was directed to the
homeseeker, farmer, tourist and capitalist.
Mr. Wiggins insisted in the early clays on an exhibit of
Southern California products where the casual visitor or in-
formation seeker might have practical evidence of what was
produced in the contiguous territory. He, personally, in a
"one boss shay" of ancient vintage, collected the first speci-
mens of soil products for the exhibit. These were placed in
the windows of the chamber.
That permanent exhibit was amplified until it became the
392 LOS ANGELES
largest of its kind in the country. It now covers the second
floor of the Chamber of Commerce Building at 128-130 South
Broadway. The offices of the chamber require the entire
third floor.
Mr. Wiggins, in addition to being made secretary in 1897,
continued to act as superintendent of exhibit. He has been
in charge of a comprehensive Southern California display at
every World Exposition for the past quarter of a century.
He was father of the idea of a traveling exhibit and the
"California on Wheels" train that toured the country was
the first display of its kind and the forerunner of many similar
ones, the government taking up the idea later and continuing
it since.
In point of term of service, Mr. Wiggins outranks all com-
mercial secretaries in the country. He is widely known
among Exposition men and is recognized as an authority on
exhibits. His career is more remarkable from the fact that
he was sent to Southern California in the late 80 's as a last
resort by his physicians. He was too weak to get about alone
and his attending physician, after he arrived here, gave him
but a few weeks to live. However, with his faithful wife as
nurse, he began to recover, and with the recovery came under-
standing of the possibilities of the salubrious climate of this
section. There probably is no more striking individual ex-
ample of the possibilities of Southern California from the
standpoint of health and human development than Mr. Wig-
gins. In his seventy-first year and in the thirty-first year
of service with the chamber, he is as active at the time this
book was written as he was a quarter of a century ago.
Industries in the early days of chamber history were of
slow and difficult growth. Thirty years ago the chief products
of this section were agricultural and horticultural. What at
that time was considered an impassable barrier to the devel-
opment of the city industrially was the lack of fuel. Coal
was the chief source of heat and power, and as this had to
be brought from considerable distance, manufacturing lagged.
When the chamber was organized thirty-two years ago,
a large part of the returns from agriculture and tourists
went to pay for manufactured products brought in from the
394 LOS ANGELES
East. It was not for several years that a clearly defined idea
of what was needed in manufactured articles for home con-
sumption and in what quantity, was reached. Business men
from the beginning were actively advocating the manufac-
ture of beet sugar, the canning of vegetables and fruits, the
making of jellies, marmalades, etc., for exportation. Oil was
not to be had in commercial quantities for manufacturing, and
coal was worth five times what it cost in the East.
In the ten years prior to 1895, manufacturing' enterprises
were restless and many plants changed their location. They
changed to get nearer the center of distribution, to find
cheaper fuel or more advantageous locations in respect to
raw materials. This led to a sort of contest between cities
wanting industries, and many municipalities were offering
bonuses in the shape of land, fuel, subscriptions to stock, and
in some cases, actual cash. This apparent necessity of assum-
ing financial obligations to bring new enterprises further
complicated the problem of Los Angeles in its industrial de-
velopment plans.
Los Angeles steadfastly refused to encourage enterprises
that had to be brought here by means of bonuses. The busi-
ness men did not want to bring enterprises that were liable
to fail in competition with others.
Although conditions were not favorable to the establish-
ment of new industries in the early 90 's, quite a number were
established which since have developed into the larger enter-
prises of the city. Sugar factories were encouraged and
established.
The manufacturing situation was radically changed by the
discovery of oil in the '90s. The first considerable output
was about 1894, but the new discovery was like many others —
greeted with incredulity and with considerable active oppo-
sition. Wells were put down in residence districts and appre-
hension was felt that the oil industry would destroy Los
Angeles as a residence city. Crude oil came into use for fuel
and at a considerably cheaper figure than coal.
The introduction of electric power in 1892 gave further
stimulus to manufacturing. The first system of long distance
transmission of electricity ever attempted was put into opera-
Launching op the ' ' Angeles ' '
Named for Los Angeles Upon Its Successful Victory Loan Campaign
396 LOS ANGELES
tion at Pomona and Ontario by the San Antonio Light and
Power Company. The succeeding year the Redlands Com-
pany constructed its system in the headwaters of the Santa
Ana River. These were followed by the Southern California
Power Company and the Edison Company, both in Los An-
geles County.
With the completion of the aqueduct power plant, the city
was able to supply cheap water and power to manufacturing
concerns. It is conceded that the present cheap water and
cheap power together with the climatic advantages, combined
with adequate transportation facilities and desirable living
conditions for employes, are conducive to enormous industrial
development in the future.
The canning industry developed, and other smaller indus-
tries. But in the government census of 1914, Los Angeles
was shown as ranking twenty-sixth in manufactured products
while it ranked tenth in population.
Government preparations for war really brought the first
crystalization of the manufacturing situation in Southern
California. The Chamber of Commerce had established an
industrial bureau some four years before this period, and sys-
tematized active campaigning was done to bring in industries
and to encourage those already here. When the Government
in 1917 felt the stern pressure of war, it made a survey of
every district, through its Resources and Conversion Branch
of the War Industries Board. Although the data gathered by
the volunteer workers for the Government was confidential,
the survey indicated clearly to the business men Southern
California 's possibilities industrially.
Concrete examples of industrial development of the past
few years may be had in the establishment of the Los Angeles
Shipbuilding Company's plant. It has launched more than a
score of steel ships for the Government. Three years ago the
ground on which this plant stands was under water. It is
reclaimed tideland owned by the City of Los Angeles, and
returns a revenue into the treasury.
The decision of the Goodyear Tire Company to locate their
western plant in Los Angeles was actuated by the cheap, un-
limited water and power available. It served to emphasize
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
397
not only that capital recognizes the advantages of Los Angeles
as a manufacturing center, but appreciates also that it is
strategically located for a world distributing point.
Most of the larger industries of the city today are of quite
recent development. Shipbuilding is but a few years old; the
manufacture of women's and men's garments, in which Los
Angeles now excels, also is a recent development; the canning
of fish, which now is a large industry, began on a small scale
only a few years ago; and the motion picture industry, which
has brought Los Angeles the sobriquet the "motion picture
capital of the world," has had its greatest development within
the last decade.
The war also brought out the fact that contiguous terri-
tory was richer in raw products than had been realized and
that the desert country yielded borax, sand for glass, and
chemical ores in vast quantities which offer inducements to
manufacturers in many lines. Within a few years also have
developed by-products of oil, citrus fruit and vegetables.
Right now is developing the science of dehydration. It has
passed the experimental stage and is entering the commercial
stage. Southern California naturally will be headquarters
398 LOS ANGELES
for this development, as vast quantities of vegetables and
fruits are available at all times and large losses will be pre-
vented by dehydration plants.
Abstraction of iron from ore without the use of coal is
said to be effected commercially, which means that the great
iron deposits in Riverside County will be available for indus-
tries in Los Angeles.
The genesis of the Chamber of Commerce furnishes an
interesting story.
It was back in the late summer of 1888 that a few leading
business men began to see that the city needed an organiza-
tion that would represent every ambition of the city. They
discussed the plan among themselves, finally agreeing that
two things must be avoided — that the organization must not
get into politics nor exploit individual enterprises.
The first of -several preliminary meetings to organize was
held in a building at the corner of Broadway and First Street,
which since has been removed to make room for a business
block. In the history of the organization it is specifically
stated that no one man may take the credit for consummation
of the plan, although Maj. E. "W. Jones, the first president, is
named with S. B. Lewis and W. E. Hughes. Incidentally, the
first president is still an active member and is among the
most faithful of the old guard who for nearly a generation
have "gone to the bat" for every sound community proposi-
tion that has developed.
Some of the suggestions at the first meetings may well
bring a smile today. "When the lack of fuel for manufacturing
was mentioned, it was suggested that oil might be found in
Los Angeles County, which then took in a large part of
Southern California. It was also suggested that the people
should be taught the fertility of the soil in order that vege-
tables, butter, cheese and eggs might be produced at home
instead of being brought in carloads from the East.
It was the late Gen. Harrison Gray Otis, owner of the Los
Angeles Times, who made the motion that brought the cham-
ber into formal existence with an initial membership of
twenty-five. He remained a staunch supporter throughout
Main and Temple Streets, Opposite Present Post Office
The Federal Building
400 LOS ANGELES
his busy life, giving generous support through the columns
of his paper. The first officers elected were:
E. W. Jones, president ; W. H. Workman, first vice presi-
dent ; John L. Redick, treasurer ; Thomas A. Lewis, secretary.
It is interesting to note that in the month after formal
organization the chamber started the movement that resulted
in the fine harbor Los Angeles claims today. One of the first
acts was to invite Senators Hearst and Stanford of California
to the city to investigate the possibilities of a deep water port
for the budding Southern California metropolis.
Although the early days of the chamber were not without
difficulties and discouragements, after thirty years the organ-
ization may point proudly to its record of achievement. The
first community advertising was started within two months
after the organization of the chamber, when 10,000 pamphlets
descriptive of this section were printed for distribution.
These proved so popular that within a few years more than
a million pamphlets of various varieties were sent to all in-
terested in all parts of the country. This beginning in com-
munity advertising was followed by more pretentious efforts
including the first exhibition train ever sent over the country,
exhibits at all world's fairs and other avenues of exploitation,
all directly resulting in bringing the population of 50,000
when the chamber was organized to more than 600,000 today.
Incidentally, the sort of population brought are the people
who pay more per capita for education than any city in the
country, stand high in thrift, lead in percentage of home
owners and are in the front rank of constructive activity in
all lines.
Practically every municipal institution that our residents
today point to with pride was initiated, fostered and brought
to a successful conclusion by the chamber. This applies to
the $10,000,000 harbor, the $23,000,000 aqueduct, the $5,000,-
000 good roads system, in addition to the state work of this
section, the stabilization of the citrus industry, the tourist
business, the industrial development, the agricultural expan-
sion and the march of municipal progress generally.
A city of superlatives has resulted from the loyal co-
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 401
operation of its citizenry, led for thirty years by the Chamber
of Commerce.
The chamber has had four homes in its thirty years of
existence. It was first established in 1888 at the corner of
First and Broadway. Two years later the second floor of the
Mott market on Main Street between Third and Fourth was
occupied by the chamber. As the organization grew, better
quarters were secured, and in 1895 the chamber occupied the
second floor of the Mason Building at Fourth and Broadway
— which was then a two-story structure. In 1903 the present
six-story office building at 128-130 South Broadway was
begun. The ceremony of laying the cornerstone was one of
the most elaborate ever held. The ceremonies were under the
auspices of the Masons, and a big parade was a feature of the
exercises. The chamber now occupies the second and third
floors, the offices being on the third floor and the exhibit on
the second.
It would be a joy to here set down the names of all the
hundreds of men who gave of their strength of brain and
body throughout the years to the service of their beloved city
and the making of it. This is impracticable, however, and
perhaps unnecessary, for the purposes of this book. Their
names are not lost, for they are preserved in the golden roster
of that wonderful body of civic fighting men who have formed
the membership of the Chamber of Commerce from its begin-
ning down to this day. Many of them have passed to the
great beyond and many more are growing old; but their
places are being filled, as the breaks in the ranks of an arrny
are filled, by men younger and more vigorous who are in-
spired by the high patriotism and honorable traditions of
their predecessors.
The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce is and has been
more than a mere organization of men for commercial advan-
tage. It is an institution with a soul.
CHAPTER XX
MODERN LOS ANGELES
It is difficult to speak of what the Los Angeles of today
is without being accused of "boosting." Indeed, the most
common accusation made against us in the outlands and
throughout the world is that we are a people of boasters, here
in Los Angeles. And in order to meet these accusations and
confute them, to prove that our boasts are well-founded and
that they can be substantiated, perhaps the best thing to do
is to state a few outstanding facts.
To begin with, we have but to quote from the tables of the
census of the United States made this year, to show that Los
Angeles is the largest city on the Pacific Coast of America,
the tenth city in size in the United States, and the forty-fourth
city of the world.
The population of Los Angeles exceeds that of San Fran-
cisco, its nearest rival on the Pacific Coast, by 70,000. Seattle
ranks third on the Coast, Portland fourth, Oakland fifth, and
San Diego sixth.
Since 1910, the date of the last previous census, Los An-
geles surpassed all other large cities of the United States in
growth — having come from seventeenth place in 1910 to tenth
place in 1920.
Its gain in population during the last ten years was nearly
five times the average gain for the United States.
The most prosaic things in the world, without a doubt, are
figures. And yet the figures showing the growth of Los An-
geles during the nearly a century and a half of its existence,
from its founding by the illustrious Gobernador, Don Felipe
de Neve, down to the present year, constitute a retrospect so
fascinating that we are impelled to herewith set the figures
down as they stand in history and are vouched for by the
records.
402
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1/
• j5f^59 Sin \ 'jrrj
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ill IiIMmIh
Bi i
nBwW
Up- —
Spring Street Looking South from Second Street in 1899
404 LOS ANGELES
Here, then, is the growth of population of Los Angeles
from 1781 to the present year :
1781 44
1790 141
1800 315
1810 415
1820 650
1830 730
1840 1,250
1850 1,610
1860 4,399
1870 . . : 5,614
1880 11,183
1890 50,395
1900 102,479
1910 319,198
1920 575,480
It is a marvelous story that the simple exposition of these
figures tell. And the questions on the lips of a stranger would
naturally be, how do we account for it ?
The commercial organizations of Los Angeles put forth
as an answer that the enormous development of Los Angeles
is the logical result of favorite location and enterprising citi-
zenship, and that "Nature fashioned the city for a workshop."
But we do not agree with all this.
We have endeavored to demonstrate in this book, and
trust that we have successfully done so, that Los Angeles was
not really a "favored location" for a city. It seems clear to
us that the reason Los Angeles is where it is, is due to two
things. In the first place, Don Felipe de Neve, scanning his
instructions from the King of Spain, at the mission of San
Gabriel where he was quartered in September, 1871, found
that he was to locate the new city a distance of about three
leagues from the Mission, toward the sea. There was noth-
ing for him to do but to obey orders. But, if he had been left
to himself, it is altogether likely that he would have stopped
his march from San Gabriel where he did, anyhow. The day
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 405
was hot, the trail dusty, and it was no fun marching under
those conditions.
So, when Don Felipe and his cavalcade of troopers from
Monterey, accompanied by the Indian neophytes and padres
from San Gabriel, had marched ten miles westward from the
Mission, they were doubtless glad enough to stop and feel
that the orders of the king had been fulfilled. The site chosen
was by no means exceptional.
We do, however, fully agree with the statement of the com-
mercial organization that the marvelous development of Los
Angeles is due to an "enterprising citizenship." And it is
also due to an almost perfect climate.
"While we cannot endorse the claim that "nature fashioned
the city for a workshop," we certainly are strong for the state-
ment that nature fashioned it for a playground. It was, after
all, the tourist who started Los Angeles on its onward and
upward way — the not quite wholly appreciate tourist, and the
tourist sometimes maligned. It was the stranger who came
and went away boosting Los Angeles in a way a thousand
times more effective than the home folks of the town could
ever hope to do.
The stranger who came and departed proclaimed it in the
outlands that Los Angeles was a lovely place in which to live.
And there are always many people in the world who are on
the lookout for such a place and who are financially able to
live where it pleases them best to live. And they came in ever-
increasing numbers, — that kind of people — and when their
numbers were thousands here, their own needs alone created
industry and commercial expansion. The newcomers became
as enthusiastic and as earnest in their desire to make Los
Angeles a great city as were those who had long resided here
had been actuated by the same desire.
Mr. Charles Phelps Cushing, a staff writer of Leslie's,
recently put the case very well and very truthfully in a recent
issue of the publication with which he is connected :
"The Middle West appears to be the chief contributor to
the swift growth of population in Los Angeles. Mixing with
the people you are amazed to find that, as is the case in New
York, the citizens of Los Angeles all appear to have emigrated
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA 407
there from other cities. What Los Angeles accomplished in
the way of culture must necessarily be, for a considerable
time, something not distinctively Californian but Middle-
western, which is just as well worth while."
This being very true, indeed, there can be no harm in
frankly admitting it.
Laying all speculation aside, however, as to the real rea-
son for the marvelous growth of Los Angeles, we can return
to the facts and be, perhaps, the better satisfied.
We feel that we have conscientiously recorded the progress
of Los Angeles in the previous pages of this book as far as
what might be called the "old times" are concerned. And as
for the growth of later times, we beg to be permitted to quote
a clear, vivid and brief statement from the late Charles Wil-
lard who was a painstaking historian in Los Angeles and an
ardent lover of the city where he had long resided.
"Los Angeles," said Mr. Willard, "began the twentieth
century with a population of 102,479, and the census of 1910
gave a total of 319,198. About 10 per cent of this gain had
come through annexation of territory, the rest through direct
increase. No American city, not even Chicago in its phenom-
enal development from 1860 to 1870, could show such rapid
growth ; and yet it did not come with a rush in a year or two
as it had in the epochs of 'boom,' but was distributed evenly
through the whole period with a steady growth of business
and a logical advance of realty values. Except for a few
months at the end of 1908 and the beginning of 1909, the entire
period was prosperous. Clearing house balances which in
1901 were less than a half a million a day, by 1911 were nearly
three million a day. Bank deposits increased from $50,000,000
to $125,000,000. Building permits which in the year 1901
totaled $4,300,000, in 1910 had grown to $21,000,000. The cen-
sus of 1900 gave the total value of the product of Los Angeles
factories as $21,000,000 and that of 1910 increased this to
$85,000,000. The city now has 85,000 telephones as against
10,000 when this book was written. The business of the post-
office which made a total of $312,524 in 1901, was for the year
1910, $1,476,941. In this decade 75,000 buildings, big and
Corner of Main, Spring and Temple Streets
South Olive Street, Looking North from Sixth
PKOM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
409
little, were constructed at a total cost of over $130,000,000.
That would make a good-sized city by itself. ' '
It is only ten years since Willard set down those figures,
startling enough in themselves, but far more so now when
brought up to date and showing that building permits in Los
Spring Street Looking North from Third Street, 1900
Angeles for the six months of the year 1920, the year in which
this book is written, reached an aggregate of $24,197,639, and
that the bank clearings for the same six months were
$1,909,435,039.
At the time this book is written, there is reckoned to be
410 LOS ANGELES
2,700 industrial establishments in the City of Los Angeles,
the products of which amount to $618,000,000 for the year.
Within a few miles of the city nearly one-fourth of the
entire oil supply of the United States is produced. Shipment
of lubricants and by-products from this port is greatest of
any in the United States. In turn the port receives more lum-
ber for distribution through the Southwest than any other
of the nation's waterways.
From sea to mountains are vast orchards, grain fields,
cattle ranches, orange groves and truck gardens, furnishing
material for the greatest canning industry in the world.
Shipbuilding, meat packing, motion picture making, gar-
ment manufacture, chemical production, tire manufacturing,
auto accessory making and kindred industries of Los Angeles
command the admiration of all nations.
These industries, fostered by genial climate and contented
population have the further advantage of cheap and abundant
water supply, unlimited electrical power at low rates, natural
gas and oil fuel, raw materials of many varieties, low cost of
factory construction, open shop conditions insuring freedom
of labor, fine port facilities, unexcelled transportation, both
local and transcontinental, and a growing demand for all
Southern California products.
Los Angeles is rapidly assuming high rank as a world
trade center. It is strategically located for the great mar-
kets of the Orient, Australasia, Central and South America.
Most of the two-thirds of the world's population in the
lands bordering the Pacific are more easily reached through
Los Angeles harbor than through any other American port.
More than two-thirds of the United States is nearer by rail
to Los Angeles than to its nearest competitor on the Pacific
Coast. Direct steamship lines flying the Los Angeles flag
are in operation to the Orient, the Philippines and the Straits
Settlements.
From Los Angeles harbor to Yokohama is 4,780 miles ; to
the Philippines, 6,535 miles ; to Honolulu, 2,228 miles ; to Syd-
ney, 6,545 miles; to the Panama Canal, 2,936 miles; to Val-
paraiso, 4,795 miles. Los Angeles is a main station on the
Sunshine Eoute around the world. Its storm-free harbor
FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA
411
joins the transcontinental railways crossing- North America
via the southern route which suffers no interruption through
storms.
Here, then, we have a pen picture of the modern Los
Angeles from a commercial point of view. But this array of
figures and statistics would by no means give a stranger in
a distant place an idea of what Los Angeles is like today.
And what is it really like ? Sometimes we can get a good
answer to this question from a visitor. "Were you to soar
City Hall at San Pedro and Los Angeles Harbor
above Los Angeles today in an airplane," says Cushing, the
staff writer of Leslie's, "you would view a city that in area
is the largest in the United States. You would see its out-
standing features as, first of all, a huge gridiron of wide
business and residence streets where thousands of motor
cars skim about like great water spiders. Mountains, some
of them included within the city limits, circle the northeast-
ern borders of the town. Through the outskirts are scat-
tered many residence suburbs and a score of little motion
picture towns, these latter classing as 'factory settlements,'
belying the description in appearance, for they are mostly
sootless and white. The main section of the city, if viewed
from aloft, would appear to lie in a fairly level inland valley
412 LOS ANGELES
invaded from the east and north with foothills. Attached
to' this big gridiron is a long narrow handle, a dozen miles or
more in length, extending southward to connect with the
Pacific Coast and the recently acquired municipal harbor.
Get down to earth and you find the downtown section of a
typical new American city, with the usual assortment of ho-
tels and tall office buildings and a Great White Way wide
enough and long enough to compare with its New York name-
sake — and far better lighted."
This is fine, and said as only a good newspaper man can
say it. And yet there is something else to be said, although
it is difficult to know just what words to use to the end that
one who has never seen Los Angeles might still be made to
know what it is like.
It is a common saying that one city is like another, and
this is true in a general way. Yet there are many cities that
have distinct personalities, if we may be permitted to use
that word, and Los Angeles is certainly one of them. It has
a peculiar character all its own — something that the sometime
guest within its gates never fails to remember when he goes
away, though he may be unable to put his impressions into
speech.
Like other great cities, Los Angeles has miles of paved
streets, block after block of tall skyscraping business build-
ings, wonderful stores, theaters, hotels, and eating places —
things that all great cities have. But it has also a peculiar
friendliness for the stranger, which the stranger instantly
and instinctively feels the moment he sets foot in it. And
it is a city well-beloved by those who are its habitants. It
is a clean city — a good town. Its skirts have always been
kept clean. The grafter and the looter have never been able
to exploit it. It is industrially free and independent, without
prejudice against honest labor or whoever it is that God gives
the privilege to of earning his bread by the sweat of his brow.
It is a city of high ideals, and a God-fearing place, as God-
fearing goes.
When swart old Don Felipe de Neve drove the corner
stakes of Los Angeles between the mountains and the sea, he
little dreamed that his deed would become immortal and his
414 LOS ANGELES
name imperishable. For, it was upon that far September
day, when this good soldier of the king started the new
pueblo on its way, that the stars of destiny sang together in
the sunset skies.